Portland vs St. Mary’s 2/3/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds
St. Mary's Gaels (17-4) vs. Portland Pilots (11-10)
February 3, 2022 11:00 pm EDT
The Line: Portland Pilots +14.5 ; Over/Under: 131
(Get latest betting odds)
The St. Mary’s Gaels and the Portland Pilots meet Thursday in college basketball action from Chiles Center. St. Mary’s is 17-4 this year. The Gaels beat Pepperdine in their last appearance. As for Portland, they’re 11-10 and coming off a loss to Gonzaga. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
St. Mary’s went 12-4 to begin the season, losing to Wisconsin, Colorado State, San Diego State and BYU along the way. Since then it’s been wins over Pepperdine, Santa Clara, Loyola Marymount, San Francisco and Pepperdine again.
In the rematch versus Pepperdine on Saturday, the Gaels jumped out to a 41-21 lead at halftime. St. Mary’s hit a 40-36 run the rest of the way in an 81-57 blowout win. Both Matthias Tass and Tommy Kuhse posted 16 points apiece to lead the team.
Over on the Portland side, it’s been a rocky road this year and a struggle to remain above .500 in the record column. The Pilots have gone 1-3 in their last four games, beating Pacific while otherwise losing to Loyola Marymount, BYU and Gonzaga.
Matched up against Gonzaga on Saturday, the Pilots didn’t have a realistic chance. Portland was outscored 28-48 in the first half and limped to a 104-72 loss. Mike Meadows was the top scorer on 19 points in 35 minutes of work.
The Pilots are 21-43-1 ATS in their last 65 at home and 7-1 ATS in their last eight overall. Portland is 9-21 ATS in their last 30 Thursday games.
Meanwhile, the Gaels are 4-0 ATS in their last four after an ATS win and 5-0 ATS in their last five overall. St. Mary’s is 5-0 ATS in their last five Thursday games.
PICK: I’m going to stay with St. Mary’s. The Gaels have posted some solid offensive numbers over this five-game win streak. They’ve hit 72 or more points in each of those outings and seem to be clicking in most game facets. As for Portland, they’ve had some tricky road matchups lately and are much in need of a comfortable game. I don’t think they’ll be too at ease here, though; St. Mary’s makes more sense to me on a cover.
