Portland Pilots vs St. Mary's Gaels Prediction, 1/11/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Portland Pilots vs St. Mary's Gaels

Date: Thursday, January 11, 2024

Location: University Credit Union Pavilion in Moraga, CA

TV: ESPN+

The St. Mary's Gaels (11-6) will try to beat the Portland Pilots (7-9) at University Credit Union Pavilion on Thursday.

The Portland Pilots faced Pacific and notched a win by a score of 78-64 in their last contest. Portland wrapped up the game having earned a 46.2% FG percentage (30 out of 65) and converted 11 of 36 3-point shots. At the free throw line, the Pilots made 7 of their 12 tries for a percentage of 58.3%. When talking about rebounding, they earned 42 with 12 of them being of the offensive sort. They also recorded 17 assists in the matchup as well as forcing 9 turnovers and earning 4 steals. With regard to defense, Portland allowed the other team to go 40.4% from the field on 23 of 57 shooting. Pacific recorded 9 assists and had 4 steals for the game. On top of that, Pacific snagged 28 boards (5 offensive, 23 defensive), but wrapped up the game with no rejections. Pacific ended up going 60.0% at the charity stripe by making 12 of 20 shots. They also knocked down 6 out of their 26 attempts from beyond the arc. In relation to fouls, the Pilots ended up with 14 and Pacific accumulated 12 fouls.

Tyler Robertson is one guy who was a major factor for the game. He recorded 19 points on 8 of 11 shooting. He was on the court for 38 mins played and snagged 9 rebounds. He ended up going 72.7% from the floor and totaled 8 assists.

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Portland will enter this matchup with a win-loss mark of 7-9 on the year. They are losing possession via turnover 14.0 times per contest and as a squad are committing 16.9 personal fouls per contest. As a unit, Portland is grabbing 36.4 boards per game and has 230 dimes on the campaign, which is 97th in college basketball in terms of passing the rock. The Pilots are shooting 32.4% on shots from downtown (131 of 404) and 71.6% from the free throw line. They are averaging 74.4 points per outing (191st in college hoops) while hitting 45.4% from the field.

On the defensive end, the Pilots are forcing their opponents into 10.7 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 18.3 fouls. They currently rank 350th in college hoops in allowing assists to the opposition with 252 relinquished on the year. The Pilots defensively are allowing a shooting percentage of 44.1% (443 of 1,004) and they concede 34.9 rebounds per game as a basketball team. They are conceding 34.8% on 3-point attempts and they are 315th in college basketball in points per game allowed (76.9).

In their last game, the St. Mary's Gaels got the victory with a final of 68-64 when they faced Loyola Marymount. In reference to attacking the glass, St. Mary's permitted Loyola Marymount to grab 27 in all (7 on the offensive glass). They went 35.7% from three-point range by going 5 of 14 and finished the contest at 13 out of 18 at the free throw line (72.2%). The Gaels permitted Loyola Marymount to convert 23 out of 47 attempts from the field which had them sitting at 48.9% in this game. Overall, the Gaels finished the game shooting 24 out of 62 from the field which gave them a rate of 38.7%. With respect to shots from beyond the arc, St. Mary's buried 3 out of their 16 attempts (18.8%). They were able to bury 17 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 89.5%. Loyola Marymount earned 18 personal fouls in the game which took the Gaels to the charity stripe for a total of 19 attempts. They turned it over 4 times, while recording 7 steals in the matchup. The Gaels earned 20 defensive boards and 11 offensive rebounds totaling 31 for this game.

Augustas Marciulionis ended up being a factor for the Gaels for the game. He made 6 out of 15 for the contest giving him a rate of 40.0%, and had 3 rebounds. He racked up 22 points in his 35 mins on the court and accumulated 3 dimes in this game.

St. Mary's has a record of 11-6 on the campaign. In terms of offensive execution, the Gaels are connecting on 44.1% from the floor, which ranks them 217th in college hoops. St. Mary's has 1,204 points for the year (70.8 per game) and they snag 41.1 boards per game. They are earning an assist 15.4 times per game (79th in the nation) and they are losing possession via turnover 11.8 times per game. The Gaels are responsible for committing 17.2 personal fouls every game and they go 67.7% from the free throw line.

The St. Mary's defense allows 31.6% from downtown (83 of 263) and opponents are making 70.2% of their free throw shots. They have allowed 9.5 dimes and 29.0 rebounds per contest, ranking them 10th and 7th in those categories on the defensive end. The Gaels are ranked 6th in college basketball in PPG surrendered with 59.5. They are able to force 12.1 TO's every game and have let teams shoot 38.8% from the floor (22nd in college hoops).

Who will win tonight's NCAA basketball game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Portland

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