The St. Mary’s Gaels and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish meet Monday in college basketball action from Mandalay Bay Events Center. St. Mary’s enters this one at 4-0 so far. The Gaels took out Bellarmine in their last game. As for the Irish, they’re 2-0 so far and coming off a win over High Point. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Saint Mary’s opened the year against Prairie View A&M, pulling off an 87-68 victory. The Gaels kept it going in their next pair of outings, taking out Texas Southern 67-58 and Southern Utah 70-51.
In the matchup versus Bellarmine, the Gaels scored 36 points in the first half and 37 more from there in a 73-64 win. Leading the team was Matthias Tass with 25 points, six rebounds and two assists.
Over on the Notre Dame side, they kicked off the year against Cal State Northridge. After a 32-26 first-half advantage, the Irish ended up with a 68-52 win. Blake Wesley led the team on 21 points, and Dane Goodwin added 18 more with four rebounds.
Game two was another win for the Irish, but this one didn’t come so easily. Notre Dame was down 33-32 at the break but ended up powering out a 70-61 win. Paul Atkinson doubled up (as did two other Irish players) with 19 points and 11 boards.
The Irish are 1-8 ATS in their last nine Monday games and 0-4 ATS in their last four overall. Notre Dame is 1-5 ATS in their last six after an ATS loss.
Meanwhile, the Gaels are 0-4 ATS in their last four neutral-site games and 3-9 ATS in their last 12 overall. Saint Mary’s is 2-5 ATS in the last seven after an ATS loss.
PICK: I’m going to try Saint Mary’s in this one. The Gaels have looked pretty solid so far, and they’re scoring well. In their last game, Saint Mary’s posted 45.3 percent shooting with 29 rebounds, 13 assists and only six turnovers. Notre Dame is coming off a 36.4-percent shooting effort, but they were great on the boards with 54 rebounds. This will be a tricky one for the Gaels but I think they can power out the cover.