Gonzaga Bulldogs at St. Mary’s Gaels Spread Bet for Mar 2

Gonzaga Bulldogs (23-6 SU, 13-15 ATS ) at St. Mary’s Gaels (24-6, 16-12), 3/2/24

When: 10 pm ET Saturday, March 2

Where: UCU Pavilion

TV: ESPN

Spread: Gon +2.5/SMC -2.5 (Learn about reduced vig! It’ll save you tons of money!)

Over/under: 141.5

The West Coast Conference offers up a great rivalry battle to cap off a Saturday of college basketball betting when St. Mary’s hosts Gonzaga in Moraga. The Gaels just clinched the WCC regular-season championship and with a win Saturday would finish a perfect 16-0. But you know the Bulldogs would love to stink up those plans.
Plus, the folks who put together the NCAA tournament might be watching this game.

Who do we like for our free college basketball betting
pick?

NCAAB Betting Odds

Saturday’s CBB betting market opened St. Mary’s at -2.5 over Gonzaga, with an over/under of right around 138.5.
Early betting action then goosed that total three points to 141.5.

Gonzaga-St. Mary’s Betting Preview

The Bulldogs bring a seven-game winning streak with them into Saturday after winning at San Francisco
Thursday night 86-68. Gonzaga, favored at -4, only led the Dons by a point at the half. But the Zags scored the first 13 points of the second half, later led by 29 and covered easily against a pretty good USF team. Gonzaga shot a hot 63 percent from the field Thursday while holding the Dons to just 40 percent shooting.

Two games ago, the Bulldogs beat Santa Clara 94-81 but came up a 3-pointer short of covering at -15.5.
Three games ago, Gonzaga won at Portland 86-65 but came up a bucket short of covering at -22. And three games ago the Zags beat Pacific 102-76 but couldn’t cover because they were favored by 31!
Obviously, the oddsmakers still take Gonzaga very seriously.

Meanwhile, the Gaels ride a glorious 16-game winning streak into Saturday after popping Pepperdine Thursday night 83-57. St. Mary’s, favored at -15.5, led by 23 at the
half. let the Waves get within 14 with about eight minutes left but re-applied the gas and pulled away from there.
SMC shot 60 percent from the field Thursday while holding Pepperdine to just 37 percent shooting.

Two games ago, the Gaels beat San Diego 88-62 and covered at -23. Three games ago, St. Mary’s came from behind late to beat San Francisco 70-66.
Big-picture, at 15-0 in West Coast play the Gaels are the WCC regular-season champs and will be the No. 1 seed in the upcoming conference tournament. And at 13-2 in
WCC play the Bulldogs are locked into the No. 2 seed for the conference tournament. So Saturday night’s game doesn’t really mean all that much, except for pride and SMC’s attempt to run the table through its conference schedule.
Which is to say, both teams should go all-out. On the personnel front, St. Mary’s is a little thinner after losing F Josh Jefferson (10 pts., 6.5 rebs. pg) to a knee injury a couple of weeks ago.

Gonzaga-St. Mary’s Recent History

The Bulldogs dominated this rivalry for a long time but the Gaels are fighting back over recent seasons, winning
In three of the last six meetings, SU is going 3-2-1 ATS. One month ago, St. Mary’s took the first meeting between these teams this season, winning 64-62 up in Spokane.
The Gaels shot 46 percent from the floor that night, Gonzaga 44 percent, and neither team ever led by more than nine points.
Also, that game played under a total of 138.

College Basketball Betting Trends

Gonzaga is 7-2 SU, 5-4 ATS on the road this season.
St. Mary’s is 14-3 SU, 9-7 ATS at home.

Totals Report

This season, the totals are split 14-14 in Zags games, averaging 155 total points.
Overs are 16-13 in Gaels games this season, averaging 133 points.
Free College Basketball Betting Pick

These teams are very close; Gonzaga owns the edge on offense, while St. Mary’s owns the edge on defense.
We think the Gaels might be a bit ripe for a letdown after clinching the conference championship the other night. Also, it’s hard to go unbeaten through an entire conference schedule; there always seems to be one trip-up in the mix. Also, these teams just
played a two-point game a month ago; having a bucket in our pocket might come in handy. We’re betting the Bulldogs Saturday night.

These teams are very close; Gonzaga owns the edge on offense, while St. Mary’s owns the edge on defense.
We think the Gaels might be a bit ripe for a letdown after clinching the conference championship the other night. Also, it’s hard to go unbeaten through an entire conference schedule; there always
seems to be one trip-up in the mix. Also, these teams just played a two-point game a month ago; having a bucket in our pocket might come in handy. We’re betting the Bulldogs Saturday night.