Gonzaga vs St. Mary’s 3/8/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The 17^th ranked St. Mary’s Gaels & top-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs will square off at Orleans Arena this Tuesday night in the finals of the West Coast Conference Tournament.

The 2-seed St. Mary’s Gales improved to 25-6 on the season after defeating the 3-seed Santa Clara Broncos, 75-72, this past Monday. St. Mary’s was solid on the offensive end against Santa Clara and was able to hold off a late Santa Clara charge after taking a 65-51 lead with 9:22 left in regulation. St. Mary’s shot 49.1% from the field & 46.2% from beyond the arc while allowing Santa Clara to shoot 40.6% from the field & 38.5% from beyond the arc. Leading the way for the Gaels was Tommy Kuhse who had 27 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, & 1 steal.

On the season, St. Mary’s is averaging 69.8 ppg on 46.3% shooting from the field. The Gaels are averaging 7.2 three-pointers per game on 35.1% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, St. Mary’s has been led by Matthias Tass (12.6 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 2.0 apg), Tommy Kuhse (11.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.6 apg), Logan Johnson (11.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.6 apg, 2.0 spg), & Alex Ducas (10.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg).

Defensively, St. Mary’s is holding their opponents to an average of 59.8 ppg on 42.1% shooting from the field. The Gaels have a rebound margin of 4.3 and a turnover margin of 1.6.

The 1-seed Gonzaga Bulldogs improved to 25-3 on the season after defeating the 4-seed San Francisco Dons, 81-71, this past Monday. Gonzaga dominate San Francisco on both ends of the court in the 1^st half and had no trouble holding on for the victory after taking a 71-47 lead with 8:46 left in regulation. Gonzaga shot 58.2% form the field & 23.1% from beyond the arc while holding San Francisco to just 38.1% from the field & 32.4% from beyond the arc. Leading the way for the Bulldogs was Drew Timme who had 22 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, & 1 block.

On the season, Gonzaga is averaging 88.0 ppg on 52.6% shooting from the field. The Bulldogs are averaging 8.4 three-pointers per game on 37.5% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, St. Mary’s has been led by Drew Timme (17.8 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 2.8 apg), Chet Holmgren (14.5 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 1.9 apg, 3.7 bpg), Julian Strawther (12.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 1.0 apg), & Andrew Nembhard (11.5 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 5.6 apg, 1.6 spg).

Defensively, Gonzaga is holding their opponents to an average of 65.2 ppg on 37.6% shooting from the field. The Bulldogs have a rebound margin of 9.2 and a turnover margin of 0.7.

The Gaels are 8-1 ATS in their last 9 games following a ATS loss, however, are just 2-6 ATS in their last 8 neutral stie games. The Bulldogs are 1-3-1 ATS in their last 5 games following a straight up win and just 1-4-1 ATS in their last 6 games overall.

St. Mary’s & Gonzaga split their regular season series as the Gaels defeated the Bulldogs by a 74-58 margin at home in mid-February while St. Mary’s defeated Gonzaga by a 67-57 at home in their regular season finale.

St. Mary’s have been led by their incredible defense which ranks 9^th in scoring defense & 78^th in turnover margin, however, the offense at times has struggled to put points up on the board as they Gaels rank just 207^th in scoring offense. Gonzaga has been incredible on both ends of the court this season as the Bulldogs come into this game 1^st in scoring offense, 2^nd in FG%, & 3^rd in defensive FG%. St. Mary’s is just 9-6 on the season in road/neutral stie games and as I think the Gonzaga offense has success, like what we saw in their first matchup this season, I think Gonzaga wins this by 15+ and cover this double-digit spread. Good Luck!