St. Mary's Gaels vs Santa Clara Broncos Prediction, 1/29/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

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

Date: Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Location: Leavey Center in Santa Clara, CA

TV: ESPN+

The Santa Clara Broncos (14-8) host the St. Mary's Gaels (18-3) at Leavey Center on Wednesday.

The St. Mary's Gaels faced off with Washington State and walked away with a win by a score of 80-75 in their last game. St. Mary's ended with a 57.7% FG percentage (30 of 52) and converted 7 of their 17 three-point shots. At the charity stripe, the Gaels made 13 of their 14 tries for a rate of 92.9%. With regard to pulling down boards, they earned 23 with 8 of them being of the offensive sort. They also distributed 11 assists for the matchup while forcing 12 turnovers and having 4 steals. Pertaining to defending, St. Mary's let their opponent shoot 57.1% from the floor on 28 of 49 shooting. Washington State recorded 13 assists and had 7 steals for the contest. On top of that, Washington State grabbed 15 rebounds (2 offensive, 13 defensive), but didn't have a block. Washington State ended up shooting 100.0% from the free throw line by knocking down 13 of their 13 tries. They made 6 out of their 14 attempts from distance. In the matter of fouls, the Gaels finished with 16 and Washington State recorded 15 fouls.

Paulius Murauskas is a player who came through in this game. He accumulated 25 points on 9 out of 15 shooting. He was on the court for 38 mins and grabbed 12 rebounds. He went 60.0% from the field but had no assists when the game ended.

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St. Mary's enters this contest with a mark of 18-3 this year. They turn the ball over 9.9 times per game and as a squad they commit 15.4 personal fouls per contest. As a unit, St. Mary's is snagging 40.7 rebounds per contest and is sitting with 352 dimes this season, which is 20th in Division 1 in terms of passing the ball. The Gaels are hitting 34.2% on three-point shots (144 of 421) and 69.9% from the charity stripe. They currently have an average of 76.7 points per game (126th in the country) while connecting on 46.3% from the field.

Defensively, the Gaels are able to force 11.8 turnovers per game while drawing 17.1 personal fouls. They are 149th in college hoops in giving up assists to the opposition with 259 surrendered for the season. The Gaels defensively are allowing an opponent FG percentage of 40.2% (471 of 1,173) and they concede 29.6 boards per game as a team. They are giving up 31.7% on three-point shots and they are ranked 7th in college in points per game allowed (61.3).

When they last stepped on the court, the Santa Clara Broncos took a loss by a final score of 83-69 when they faced Oregon State. The Broncos were able to collect 17 defensive boards and 3 offensive boards totaling 20 for this game. They also coughed it up 11 times, while getting 6 steals for the matchup. Oregon State was called for 12 fouls for this game which got the Broncos to the free throw line for 16 tries. They were able to knock down 10 of the free throws for a rate of 62.5%. In terms of shooting from distance, Santa Clara converted 9 of 27 tries (33.3%). When this game wrapped up, the Broncos went 25 out of 49 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 51.0%. The Broncos permitted Oregon State to make 28 of 52 tries from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 53.8% for this game. They finished 33.3% from distance by going 6 of 18 and ended up going 21 out of 22 from the free throw line (95.5%). With respect to cleaning the glass, Santa Clara permitted Oregon State to collect 26 in total (4 on the offensive glass).

Adama Bal ended up having an impact for the Broncos in the matchup. He knocked down 5 of 13 for this game giving him a rate of 38.5%, and accounted for 3 rebounds. He had 13 points in his 36 minutes on the hardwood and accounted for 5 assists in the game.

Santa Clara has a mark of 14-8 on the campaign. When it comes to offensive execution, the Broncos are connecting on 46.4% from the field, which ranks them 96th in the country. Santa Clara has totaled 1,776 pts for the season (80.7 per contest) and they grab 38.2 boards per game. They are getting an assist 16.4 times per game (43rd in the country) and they turn it over 12.3 times per contest. The Broncos have committed 17.0 personal fouls per game while shooting 72.3% from the free throw line.

The Broncos are ranked 269th in college in points per game surrendered with 74.7. They are forcing 11.9 TO's every game and allow teams to shoot 44.2% from the field (232nd in college hoops). The Santa Clara defense gives up 31.4% on shots from distance (166 of 528) and their opposition knocks down 70.5% of their shots from the charity stripe. They surrender 15.2 dimes and 33.7 total rebounds per game, ranking them 322nd and 144th in the nation.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take St. Mary's

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