Gonzaga vs San Diego Prediction 1/8/25 College Basketball Picks Today

The San Diego Toreros and the Gonzaga Bulldogs meet Wednesday in college basketball action from McCarthey Athletic Center. Here’s a Gonzaga vs San Diego prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Gonzaga vs San Diego pick.

San Diego Betting Preview

A quick glance at the Toreros’ record will show you that the team has had its struggles this season. San Diego lost four of their first five games this year, with a lone win over Boston U surrounded by losses to Rider, Portland State, Idaho State, and Southern Utah. Following consecutive wins over Idaho and MARIAN, the Toreros hit the skids again versus Arizona State, San Diego State, Long Beach State, Fresno State, UC San Diego, and Grand Canyon in succession. San Diego managed their fourth win of the year on December 30 versus Pacific, but they’ve since fallen to Santa Clara and Oregon State for a 4-12 overall record thus far.

In the Oregon State game on Saturday, the Toreros were outscored 33-28 in the first half. Thoughts of a potential victory quickly evaporated in the second, however, as San Diego was blitzed on a 48-26 run from there in an 81-54 blowout defeat. Leading the team in scoring during the losing effort was Tony Duckett with 12 points and three boards. Joey Chammaa was the only other team player in double-figures, notching 10 points with four steals and three assists in 30 minutes off the bench. Steven Jamerson added seven points as well.

Gonzaga Bulldogs Betting Preview

Over on the Gonzaga side, they’ve had much more success this year and have mustered a mirror image of San Diego’s record so far. The Bulldogs beat Baylor, Arizona State, UMass Lowell, San Diego State, and Long Beach State in their first five games before an overtime loss versus West Virginia on November 27. Gonzaga would beat Indiana and Davidson in the next pair before losses to Kentucky and UConn. Since then it’s been a 5-1 run with a lone loss to UCLA mixed in among wins over Nicholls, Bucknell, Pepperdine, Portland, and Loyola Marymount. The result has been a fairly decent 12-4 overall record so far this season.

Matched up against Loyola Marymount in their last outing, the Bulldogs came out of the locker room looking up at a dominant 46-28 advantage on the scoreboard. Gonzaga hit a 50-40 run the rest of the way and took the eventual victory in blowout fashion 96-68. Topping the team in scoring was Graham Ike with 27 points, nine boards, and one assist. Khalif Battle added 26 points with four rebounds and three steals in 25 minutes on the floor, while Michael Ajayi led the bench scoring 15 points, two rebounds, and a pair of steals in 18 minutes.

Why the Gonzaga Bulldogs will win

• San Diego has lost each of its last 28 games against AP-ranked opponents.
• Gonzaga has won each of its last 18 games against San Diego.
• San Diego has lost the first half in each of its last 19 road games against AP-ranked opponents.

Gonzaga vs San Diego Prediction

I’ll lean toward Gonzaga, but I’m not touching it due to that hefty line. The Bulldogs should have every advantage here and should feel confident after a big win over an overmatched LMU team. Gonzaga shot a nice 52.8 percent from the field in that one with 43.8 percent (7-of-16) from 3-point range and 39 rebounds. That makes 81 or more points in three straight (all wins) for the Bulldogs as well as 81 or more points in each of the last five wins total. There’s a very good chance that Gonzaga will be able to hit that threshold here, which would be a great sign for a potential cover.

As for San Diego, they were able to hang with a good Oregon State team during the first half of their last outing but lost the pace in the second half. The Toreros shot just 29.3 percent from the field in that one with 13 turnovers for 22 Beavers points. This will likely be the Toreros’ toughest matchup of the year so far, and considering that they’ve scored fewer than 56 points in two of the last four games, I’m not confident they’ll stay in range for too long. I like Gonzaga to control this one from wire to wire in a convincing cover effort.