Santa Clara vs Loyola Marymount Prediction 2/20/25 College Basketball Picks Today

The Loyola Marymount Lions and the Santa Clara Broncos meet Thursday in college basketball action from Leavey Center. Here’s a Santa Clara vs Loyola Marymount prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Santa Clara vs Loyola Marymount pick.

Loyola Marymount Lions Betting Preview

So far this year Loyola Marymount has had a few rough runs. In all, however, the Lions have been able to keep their heads above the .500 mark in the record column. LMU opened on a 3-4 stretch with losses to UC Irvine, Saint Louis, North Dakota, and Colorado State alongside wins over Life Pacific, Belmont, and Wyoming. After wins over Nevada, Prairie View, UC Santa Barbara, Southern, and North Alabama, the Lions hit a 1-4 run with a lone win over Oregon State. The losses otherwise were versus San Francisco, Washington State, Gonzaga, and Saint Mary’s. LMU would beat Santa Clara, San Diego, Pacific, Portland, and San Diego in the next five, and since then it’s been a 1-4 run with a win over Pepperdine. The Lions have otherwise lost to Gonzaga, San Francisco, Pacific, and Portland in that time, giving the team a 15-12 record through their first 27 outings of the season.

LMU was down by one point at halftime in their last outing versus Portland. The Lions ended up falling further behind in the second with a 57-47 deficit and lost the game 89-78 in the end. Leading the team in the losing effort was Caleb Stone-Carrawell with 18 points and five rebounds in 36 minutes of work. Will Johnston added 17 points with three assists and two boards, while Jevon Porter had 16 points with six rebounds in 35 minutes out there.

Santa Clara Broncos Betting Preview

Over on the Santa Clara side, they’ve got a rough spot or two in the books themselves but overall they’re not doing too badly. The Broncos opened on a 3-5 run though, taking losses to Arizona State, North Dakota State, Nevada, and Stanford. A win streak over McNeese, Fresno State, Bradley, Kennesaw State, South Dakota, and Pepperdine came next, then a 5-4 run with losses to San Francisco, LMU, Oregon State, and Saint Mary’s. The Broncos otherwise beat San Diego, Oregon State, San Francisco, Gonzaga, and Washington State in that time. Since then it’s been wins over Pacific, Portland, and San Diego before a loss to Saint Mary’s. That gives the Broncos a 17-10 overall record through their first 27 games this season so far.

Matched up against Saint Mary’s on the road last week, the Broncos were down by seven going into the second half. Santa Clara didn’t get any better from there on a 36-34 deficit and took the loss 73-64. Johnny O’Neil led the team with 18 points, six rebounds, two assists, and two blocks. Jake Ensminger led the bench scoring with 13 points, three boards, and three steals, while Camaron Tongue had 11 points with two rebounds in 14 minutes on the floor.

Why the Santa Clara Broncos will win

• Santa Clara has won each of its last 15 Thursday games at Leavey Center.
• Loyola Marymount has lost four of its last five games.
• Loyola Marymount has lost the first half in six of its last seven road night games against the West Coast Conference.

Why the Loyola Marymount Lions will win

• Loyola Marymount has won three of its last four games against Santa Clara following a road loss.
• Loyola Marymount has won the first half in four of its last five games at Leavey Center against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Santa Clara vs Loyola Marymount Prediction

I’m staying with Santa Clara. The Broncos are coming off a pretty limp loss on the road versus a good Saint Mary’s team though, so they’ll need to show some life here. Santa Clara shot just 40.4 percent from the field in that one with a 31-28 rebounding deficit and 12 turnovers for 15 Gaels points. The Broncos gave up 53.2 percent shooting on the other side and just couldn’t keep pace. Santa Clara had won three straight prior to that though, with 83 or more points in all three games.

The Broncos managed to take a 57-54 loss on the road the last time these teams saw each other back on January 16. Santa Clara shot just 36.2 percent from the field in that one and had 13 turnovers for 12 LMU points, so needless to say there’s plenty to clean up. I like the Broncos to notch a better effort in the home rematch, though.