The Saint Mary’s Gaels and the Loyola Marymount Lions meet Thursday in college basketball action from Gersten Pavilion. 

Saint Mary’s is sitting at 9-5 on the season. The Gaels have dropped three games in a item and are coming off a loss to Gonzaga. As for Loyola Marymount, they’re sitting at 7-4 so far. The Lions are 5-1 in their last six games and beat San Diego in their last appearance. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place. 

Saint Mary’s began the year with a loss to Memphis but then rattled off eight straight wins before finally being taken down by San Diego State. After a win over Sacramento State in their next game, the Gaels have dropped their last three outings to Santa Clara, BYU and Gonzaga. 

In the 73-59 loss to Gonzaga on Saturday, Saint Mary’s leading scorer was Dan Fotu with 15 points and seven rebounds. Logan Johnson added 12 points with four assists and three boards, and Tommy Kuhse put up 10 points with seven assists and three rebounds. 

Over on the Loyola Marymount side, they began their year at 2-2 with wins over Southern Utah and Long Beach State. After splitting a pair versus UCSB, the Lions beat UC Irvine, Cal Poly and San Francisco before a loss to Pacific and a win over San Diego on Tuesday. 

In the 72-69 OT win over the Toreros, Loyola Marymount’s Eli Scott put up 20 points with seven rebounds and three assists. Dameane Douglas added 19 points with nine boards, and Joe Quintana had 15 points with five rebounds and one assist in 45 minutes of action. 

The Lions are 5-1-1 ATS in their last seven after an ATS loss and 3-10-1 ATS in their last 14 after a straight-up win. Loyola Marymount is 5-2 in their last seven at home versus a team with a losing road record and the under is 4-1 in their last five overall. 

Meanwhile, the Gaels are 1-5 ATS in their last six Thursday games and 0-4 ATS in their last four after an ATS win. The over is 9-4 in Saint Mary’s last 13 after an ATS win and the under is 47-18-2 in their last 67 Thursday games. 

PICK: I’m sticking with Loyola Marymount here. Saint Mary’s started out their year on a pretty nice scoring clip, but they’ve been at 64 or below in each of their last six games. Loyola Marymount has had a few duds themselves, but they’ve hit 68 or more in three of their last four. I like this one to be competitive most of the way, with the Lions eking out a cover late in the game.