St. Mary’s vs New Mexico State 12/14/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The New Mexico State Aggies and the St. Mary’s Gaels meet Wednesday in college basketball action from McKeon Pavilion. New Mexico State comes into this one at 5-3 overall. The Aggies beat Duquesne in their last game. As for St. Mary’s, they’re 8-3 on the year following a win over San Diego State on Saturday. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

New Mexico State went 4-2 over their first six games this year, beating NM Highlands, San Diego, UTEP and Simon Fraser. The Aggies would then lose to Santa Clara and beat Duquesne over the next two outings. 

On Sunday versus Duquesne, the Aggies were up 35-27 by the break. New Mexico State posted another 38 points in the second half on the way to a 73-60 win. Leading scorer Issa Muhammad posted 17 points with six rebounds in just 19 minutes of work. 

Over on the St. Mary’s side, they won six straight games out of the gate this year. The Gaels hit a three-game losing streak after that however, falling to Washington, New Mexico and Houston. St. Mary’s has since beaten Missouri State and San Diego State. 

Matched up against San Diego State on Saturday, Saint Mary’s had a 35-35 tie at the break. The Gaels outscored the Aztecs 33-26 from there in a 68-61 win. Aidan Mahaney scored 20 points to lead the team, and Alex Ducas added 17 points. 

PICK: I’ll probably stick with Saint Mary’s in this one. The Gaels were out-rebounded 35-32 against San Diego State in their last game, however they also shot a nice 49 percent from the field during the victory. Saint Mary’s hasn’t been scoring great lately (68 or fewer in five straight games), so they’ll need to get off to a fast start here. New Mexico State has some big scoring outings on their card so far and could be trouble for the Gaels, but I like Saint Mary’s to ultimately pull off the cover.