Gonzaga vs St. Mary’s Prediction 1/31/26 College Basketball Picks Today

The Saint Mary’s Gaels and the Gonzaga Bulldogs meet Saturday in college basketball action from McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane. Here’s a Gonzaga vs Saint Mary’s prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Gonzaga vs Saint Mary’s pick.

Saint Mary’s Gaels Betting Preview

This year the Gaels got off to a very nice start, winning each of their first eight games out of the gate. Saint Mary’s would fall to Vanderbilt and Boise State over the next three outings, then beat FAU, Northern Iowa, LMU, Pepperdine, Portland, Seattle U, Washington State and San Francisco before a loss to Santa Clara. The Gaels have since beaten Oregon State and Portland, giving the team a 19-3 run through 22 games.

In the Portland matchup last weekend, the Gaels were in the locker room sitting on a 38-34 advantage on the scoreboard. Saint Mary’s hit a 37-35 run the rest of the way and ended up taking the win in the end 75-69. Paulius Murauskas was tops on the team with 24 points, nine rebounds and two assists while Mikey Lewis added 15 points. Joshua Dent put up 13 points, seven assists and a pair of rebounds as well.

Gonzaga Bulldogs Betting Preview

Over on the Bulldogs’ side, they also got off to a great start this year. Gonzaga won each of their first seven games before falling versus Michigan in a home matchup blowout 101-61. Since then however, it’s been wins over Kentucky, North Florida, UCLA, Campbell, Oregon, Pepperdine, San Diego, Seattle U, Loyola Marymount, Santa Clara, Washington State, Seattle U, Pepperdine and San Francisco in succession. That gives the Bulldogs a 21-1 record this year in 22 outings.

In the San Francisco matchup at home last Saturday the Bulldogs went into the second half with a comfortable lead 36-25. Gonzaga was outscored 41-32 during a wild run the rest of the way, but still held on for the victory at home 68-66. Jalen Warley led the team on 19 points with four rebounds and two assists while Davis Fogle had 15 points and nine rebounds. Tyon Grant-Foster added 15 points with three rebounds in the victory effort.

Why the Gonzaga Bulldogs will win

• Gonzaga has won each of its last 21 games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Saint Mary’s has lost each of its last five games against Top 10 AP-ranked opponents.
• Gonzaga has won the first half in each of its last 11 Saturday games as an AP-ranked team against a non-AP-ranked team.

Why the Saint Mary’s Gaels will win

• Saint Mary’s has won each of its last 13 night games.
• Saint Mary’s has won the first half in each of its last 13 night games.

Gonzaga vs Saint Mary’s Prediction

I’ll stay with Gonzaga but you could argue this one either way. The Bulldogs barely eked past a pretty good San Francisco team in a home matchup last weekend despite shooting a reasonable 44.3 percent from the field with a 36-12 advantage on points in the paint. Gonzaga was pretty ugly from both 3-point range (3-of-18 for 16.7 percent) and the line (11-of-22 for 50 percent) and got out-rebounded 37-29 along the way. There’s plenty to improve on here. Still, the Bulldogs have won 14 straight games now with 68 or more points in every one of those outings.

As for Saint Mary’s, they took care of a middling Portland team in their last matchup thanks to 45.5 percent from the field and 88.9 percent (16-of-18) from the line. The 34-25 rebounding edge helped, but the Gaels did have a dozen turnovers along the way. Saint Mary’s has lost just one of their last 11 games and they’ll give the Bulldogs some trouble if all goes well.