Gonzaga vs Merrimack 12/9/21 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds
Merrimack Warriors (4-6) vs. Gonzaga Bulldogs (7-2)
December 9, 2021 9:00 pm EDT
The Line: Gonzaga Bulldogs -29 ; Over/Under: 137
(Get latest betting odds)
The Merrimack Warriors and the Gonzaga Bulldogs meet Thursday in college basketball action from McCarthey Athletic Center. Gonzaga is 7-2 this year. The Bulldogs lost to Alabama in their last game. As for the Warriors, they’re 4-6 so far and fresh off a loss to Brown. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Merrimack went 3-2 in their first five games this year, beating Emerson, NJIT and Lehigh along the way. It’s been a 1-4 run in the last five for the Warriors, though. Merrimack has lost to Virginia Tech, Boston U, UMass Lowell and Brown in that stretch.
In the loss to Brown, Merrimack posted just 19 points in the first half on the way to a 76-56 blowout loss. Both Jordan Minor and Malik Edmead notched 16 points to lead the team, with a combined two assists and five boards.
Over on the Gonzaga side, they started out at 6-0 this year with wins over Dixie State, Texas, Alcorn State, Bellarmine, Central Michigan and UCLA. Since then the Bulldogs have a win over Tarleton State between losses to Duke and Alabama.
Back on Saturday in the Alabama game, Gonzaga got off to a rough start with a 51-35 deficit in the first half. The Bulldogs got better from there but still lost 91-82. Drew Timme was the top scorer with 23 points and 10 boards for Gonzaga.
The Bulldogs are 1-4 ATS in their last five at home and 1-4-1 ATS in their last six Thursday games. The under is 5-2 in Gonzaga’s last seven after an ATS loss.
Meanwhile, the Warriors are 1-7-1 ATS in their last nine versus a team with a winning straight-up record and the under is 22-5 in their last 27 road games. The under is 38-17-1 in Merrimack’s last 56 overall.
PICK: I’m probably sticking with Gonzaga but staying away. The line on this one is going to be super thick everywhere. In any case, the Bulldogs didn’t play their best ball against Alabama in their last game but still shot a solid 44.8 percent from the field with 42 rebounds and 17 team assists. There’s not much danger of Merrimack pushing the Bulldogs on the scoreboard like the Tide did, though. Merrimack has been at 60 points or fewer in each of their last three, and I don’t think they’ll get too far past that here either.
