Santa Clara Broncos vs St. Mary's Gaels Prediction, 1/31/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Santa Clara Broncos vs St. Mary's Gaels

Date: Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Location: University Credit Union Pavilion in Moraga, CA

TV: ESPN+

The St. Mary's Gaels (16-6) will try to defeat the Santa Clara Broncos (15-7) at University Credit Union Pavilion on Wednesday.

The Santa Clara Broncos took the court against Pepperdine and went home with a win by a final score of 94-71 in their last game. Santa Clara ended with a 58.2% FG percentage (32 of 55) and converted 10 out of their 20 3-point shots. At the charity stripe, the Broncos made 20 of 26 attempts for a rate of 76.9%. Concerning pulling down boards, they earned 34 with 9 of them being of the offensive sort. They also doled out 19 assists in this contest as well as forcing the other team into 7 turnovers and earning 6 steals. With respect to the defense, Santa Clara let their opponent shoot 44.1% from the field on 26 of 59 shooting. Pepperdine totaled 12 dimes and had 7 steals for this contest. Additionally, Pepperdine had 21 boards (7 offensive, 14 defensive), but didn't have a block. Pepperdine finished shooting 76.5% from the free throw line by making 13 of 17 tries. They buried 6 of 24 attempts from distance. When talking about personal fouls, the Broncos ended up finishing with 18 and Pepperdine had 20 personal fouls.

Adama Bal is a guy who was a contributor in this matchup. He totaled 23 points on 9 out of 11 shooting. He played 29 mins and grabbed 4 boards. He walked away from this one shooting 81.8% from the field and earned 3 assists.

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Santa Clara comes into this one with a win-loss record of 15-7 for the year. They have an average of 77.8 pts per contest (85th in Division 1) while hitting 47.4% from the floor. The Broncos are connecting on 37.7% on shots beyond the perimeter (194 of 514) and 70.6% from the free throw line. As a team, Santa Clara is pulling in 38.4 rebounds per game and has totaled 342 assists for the campaign, which has them ranked 29th in college basketball in terms of passing. They are turning it over 13.1 times per game and as a basketball team they commit 17.2 personal fouls every game.

Defensively, the Broncos are able to force 10.6 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 17.2 personal fouls. They are giving up 31.9% on shots from downtown and they are ranked 196th in Division 1 in points per game allowed (72.3). The Broncos defensively are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 41.9% (560 of 1,338) and they relinquish 32.7 rebounds per game as a group. They rank 253rd in D-1 in allowing assists with 280 surrendered on the year.

When they last played, the St. Mary's Gaels went home victorious with a score of 70-65 when they played Loyola Marymount. In regard to rebounding, St. Mary's permitted Loyola Marymount to grab 26 in total (4 offensive). They finished 44.4% from distance via 8 of 18 and finished the contest at 3 of 4 from the free throw line (75.0%). The Gaels allowed Loyola Marymount to make 27 out of their 52 attempts from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 51.9% for this contest. When the final whistle blew, the Gaels went 23 for 54 from the floor which had them shooting 42.6%. In the matter of 3-point shots, St. Mary's made 6 of 21 tries (28.6%). They were able to convert 18 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 90.0%. Loyola Marymount committed 15 fouls in the game which took the Gaels to the charity stripe for a total of 20 attempts. They also coughed it up 4 times, while earning 5 steals in this game. The Gaels collected 18 defensive rebounds and 7 offensive boards for a total of 25 in this matchup.

Augustas Marciulionis ended up being important for the Gaels for the game. He converted 8 out of 18 for this contest for a rate of 44.4%, and totaled 1 rebound. He totaled 25 points in his 40 minutes on the court and accumulated 7 assists for this game.

St. Mary's has a win-loss mark of 16-6 on the campaign. As an offensive team, the Gaels are connecting on 45.3% from the floor, which is 150th in the nation. St. Mary's has 1,595 pts on the campaign (72.5 per contest) and they average 40.5 boards per contest. They are dishing out assists 15.7 times per game (51st in the nation) and they cough up possession 10.8 times per contest. The Gaels are committing 16.6 personal fouls every game and they hit 69.0% from the charity stripe.

The Gaels on defense are ranked 2nd in the country in PPG allowed with 57.5. They have forced 12.1 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 38.7% from the field (10th in D-1). The St. Mary's defense allows 30.9% on shots from distance (107 of 346) and opponents are making 69.7% of their free throw shots. They surrender 9.6 assists and 28.2 total boards per game, which is 8th and 1st in those defensive categories.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Santa Clara

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