Santa Clara vs Montana 12/19/21 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Montana Grizzlies and the Santa Clara Broncos meet in college basketball action from the Leavey Center on Sunday afternoon.

The Montana Grizzlies come into this game looking to build on a 118-49 win over subdivision Sagu last time out. Josh Bannan is the lone Montana player scoring in double figures with 12.1 PPG and a team-high 7.5 RPG to lead the Griz on the glass as well while Brandon Whitney has 9.9 PPG and Robby Beasley III has 9.8 PPG. Cameron Parker also has 8.2 PPG with a team-high 6.5 APG to lead the Grizzlies in the assist department this season. As a team, Montana is averaging 74 PPG on 45.5% shooting from the field, 36.1% from three and 80.5% from the foul line while allowing 60.4 PPG on 40.6% shooting from the field and 40.5% from three this season.

The Santa Clara Broncos will look to add to their 80-66 win over Florida A&M in their last game. Jalen Williams leads the Broncos in scoring with 19.4 PPG with 4 RPG and 3.8 APG while Josip Vrankic has 14.6 PPG, 5 RPG and 4.6 APG. Keshawn Justice has 14.2 PPG with a team-high 7.4 RPG to lead the Broncos on the glass and PJ Pipes has 10.5 PPG with a team-high 4 APG to lead Santa Clara in the assist department and round out the group of double-digit scorers for Santa Clara so far this season. Parker Braun also has 9.5 PPG and 5.8 RPG for Santa Clara this season. As a team, Santa Clara is averaging 76.1 PPG on 49.2% shooting from the field, 36.8% from three and 77.4% from the foul line while allowing 69 PPG on 41.8% shooting from the field and 32.8% from three this season.

Montana is 1-5 ATS in their last 6 road games and 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games following a win by 20 or more points while the over is 5-0 in their last 5 road games following three or more consecutive home games. Santa Clara is 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games overall and 2-12 ATS in their last 14 home games against a team with a losing road record while the over is 10-2 in their last 12 home games.

I get why Santa Clara is favored at home as this is a Santa Clara team that I’ve been high on for much of the season even without their anchor in Josip Vrankic as the rest of the Broncos have picked up the slack with him on the shelf. However, Montana is not a team to take lightly as we’ve seen the Grizzlies hang around on the road with teams that are around their level and I think this could be a spot that falls into that category. I look for the Grizzlies to keep this one fairly close and to give themselves a chance to win late so give me Montana and the points here.