Portland Pilots vs Gonzaga Bulldogs Prediction, 1/2/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Portland Pilots vs Gonzaga Bulldogs

Date: Thursday, January 2, 2025

Location: McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, WA

TV: ESPN+

McCarthey Athletic Center is where the Gonzaga Bulldogs (9-4) will take on the Portland Pilots (5-9) on Thursday.

The Portland Pilots took the court against Washington State and ended up losing by a score of 89-73 in their last game. Portland ended the contest with a 42.4% field goal percentage (25 out of 59) and converted 7 out of their 23 three-point shots. At the free throw line, the Pilots buried 16 of 18 tries for a rate of 88.9%. Concerning grabbing rebounds, they collected 22 with 5 of them being on the offensive end. They also dished out 15 assists for this game in addition to forcing 16 turnovers and getting 9 steals. With regard to defense, Portland allowed the other team to shoot 55.0% from the floor on 33 out of 60 shooting. Washington State earned 24 dimes and had 3 steals in this contest. Furthermore, Washington State pulled down 35 rebounds (8 offensive, 27 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. Washington State went 69.2% from the charity stripe by knocking down 9 of 13 attempts. They converted 14 of their 25 attempts from distance. When talking about personal fouls, the Pilots finished with 14 and Washington State accumulated 17 personal fouls.

Max Mackinnon is a player who came through for this contest. He finished the game shooting 56.3% from the field and dished out 3 dimes. He was on the court for 29 minutes and also totaled 5 boards. He finished with 22 points on 9 out of 16 shooting.

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Portland will enter this contest with a record of 5-9 for the season. They are averaging 72.1 points per contest (265th in college hoops) while going 43.8% from the field. The Pilots are connecting on 34.5% from downtown (113 of 328) and 76.4% from the free throw line. As a team, Portland is collecting 35.2 rebounds per contest and has totaled 211 assists for the season, which is 76th in Division 1 in terms of passing the rock. They cough up possession 13.9 times per contest and as a team they commit 15.2 fouls every game.

Defensively, the Pilots are able to force 10.1 turnovers per game and they draw 17.9 fouls. They give up 36.1% from beyond the arc and they are 330th in college hoops in points per game allowed (78.3). The Pilots defensively are allowing a field goal percentage of 44.0% (404 of 919) and they concede 36.6 boards per contest as a squad. They currently rank 358th in college in allowing assists to the opposition with 240 conceded this season.

In their last game, the Gonzaga Bulldogs took a loss by a score of 65-62 when they played UCLA. The Bulldogs were able to collect 22 defensive boards and 8 offensive rebounds totaling 30 in the game. They also turned the ball over 15 times, while recording 3 steals for the matchup. UCLA committed 15 personal fouls for the game which got the Bulldogs to the charity stripe for a total of 8 tries. They were able to bury 5 of them for a rate of 62.5%. In regard to three-point shots, Gonzaga buried 7 of their 24 tries (29.2%). When the game finished, the Bulldogs ended up going 25 out of 55 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 45.5%. The Bulldogs allowed UCLA to make 20 of 55 attempts from the field which had them sitting at 36.4% for the contest. They finished shooting 50.0% from three-point range by going 12 of 24 and ended up shooting 13 of 18 at the charity stripe (72.2%). In the matter of rebounding, Gonzaga permitted UCLA to get 35 in total (11 offensive).

Graham Ike ended up being important for the Bulldogs in this contest. He made 11 out of 16 for the contest giving him a field goal percentage of 68.8%, and accounted for 8 rebounds. He recorded 24 points in his 31 mins on the hardwood and totaled 2 dimes for this contest.

Gonzaga has a win-loss mark of 9-4 on the year. When it comes to executing on offense, the Bulldogs are shooting 49.3% from the floor, which ranks 33rd in college. Gonzaga has accounted for 1,133 points so far this season (87.2 per contest) and they average 40.2 boards per game. Their rate of earning assists is at 19.2 times per game (6th in college) and they turn the ball over 10.2 times per contest. The Bulldogs are committing 16.4 personal fouls every game and they hit 80.6% from the free throw line.

The Gonzaga defense allows 27.7% on shots from beyond the arc (90 of 325) and their opponents are converting on 75.3% of their free throw shots. They have surrendered 12.2 dimes and 32.8 total rebounds per game, which ranks them 114th and 102nd in the country. The Bulldogs on defense are ranked 125th in college in PPG given up with 69.1. They are forcing 12.8 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 40.5% from the floor (68th in college).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Portland

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