St. Mary's Gaels (18-6) vs. Pacific Tigers (6-18)
February 6, 2024 11:00 pm EDT
The Line: Pacific Tigers +20.5; Over/Under: +130
(Get latest betting odds)
The Saint Mary’s Gaels and the Pacific Tigers meet Tuesday in college basketball action from Alex G. Spanos Center. Saint Mary’s is 18-6 so far this year and fresh off a big win at Gonzaga. As for Pacific, they’re 6-18 overall and coming off a loss to San Francisco. Let’s get into our Saint Mary’s vs. Pacific prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Saint Mary’s Gaels
The Gaels managed an 8-6 run over their first 14 games, losing to Weber State, San Diego State, Xavier, Utah, Boise State and Missouri State. It’s been wins over Kent State, San Diego, LMU, Portland, Santa Clara, San Francisco, Pacific, LMU again, Santa Clara again and Gonzaga since then.
On Saturday versus Gonzaga, the Gaels were behind by one point coming out of the break. Saint Mary’s outscored the Bulldogs 31-28 the rest of the way and secured the 64-62 victory. Aidan Maheny led the team on his 20 options, while Joshua Jefferson doubled on 16 points and 11 boards.
Pacific Tigers
Over on the Pacific side, they opened the year on a rough 6-9 stretch, getting their latest win way back on December 30. The Tigers have lost to San Francisco, Portland, Pepperdine, LMU, Santa Clara, Saint Mary’s, Gonzaga, Portland and San Francisco in succession since then.
In the rematch versus San Francisco over the weekend, the Tigers were down by five points at halftime. Pacific got a little better from there on a 45-44 deficit but still lost 79-73. Cam Denson was the team’s leading scorer with 22 points, four rebounds, one assist and one block.
ANDREW’S FREE SAINT MARY’S VS PACIFIC PREDICTION
I’ll stay with Saint Mary’s. The Gaels played a great game versus Gonzaga in their last matchup and took the improbable road win against a tough opponent. Saint Mary’s was out-rebounded 36-30 in that one but also held the Bulldogs to just 3-of-14 (21.4 percent) from 3-point range. The Gaels have held opponents below 66 points in seven of their last eight outings.
That’s bad news for the Tigers, who lost 76-28 at University Credit Union Pavilion when these teams last met back on January 25. Pacific shot a miserable 20 percent from the field in that one and lost the rebounding battle 48-21. Though I don’t think this rematch will be quite so dramatic, I’m still leaning toward Saint Mary’s.
