Santa Clara vs Portland 2/26/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Portland Pilots and the Santa Clara Broncos meet in college basketball action from the Leavey Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Portland Pilots will look to build on a six-game win streak after a 75-69 win over Pacific last time out. Tyler Robertson leads the Pilots across the board with team-highs of 15.1 PPG, 6.4 RPG and 4.3 APG while Chris Austin has 14 PPG with 4.7 RPG this season. Moses Wood has 13.8 PPG with 6.1 RPG and Mike Meadows has 10.4 PPG with 3.4 RPG and 3.1 APG to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for Portland so far this season. As a team, Portland is averaging 73.6 PPG on 43.5% shooting from the field, 34% from three and 80.4% from the foul line while allowing 70.9 PPG on 41.2% shooting from the field and 33.2% from three this season.

The Santa Clara Broncos will try to add to an 89-73 win over Pepperdine last time out. Jalen Williams leads the Broncos in scoring with 17.9 PPG with 4.1 RPG and a team-high 3.9 APG while Josip Vrankic has 14.4 PPG, 5.4 RPG and 3 APG. Keshawn Justice has 14 PPG with a team-high 7 RPG to lead the Broncos on the glass and PJ Pipes has 11.9 PPG with 3 APG to round out the group of double-digit scorers for Santa Clara so far this season. Parker Braun also has 7.6 PPG and 5.7 RPG for Santa Clara this season. As a team, Santa Clara is averaging 77.1 PPG on 48.8% shooting from the field, 37.5% from three and 76% from the foul line while allowing 71.7 PPG on 42.9% shooting from the field and 34.5% from three this season.

Portland is 11-1 ATS in their last 12 road games against a team with a winning home record and 7-0 ATS in their last 7 road games against a team with a home winning percentage above .600 while the over is 5-0 in their last 5 games following a win. Santa Clara is 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games following a win and 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games against a team with a winning record while the over is 4-1 in their last 5 home games against a team with a road winning percentage below .400.

I get the case to be made for Portland here as the Pilots have had their moments during conference play, but the Pilots are a far better team at home. Santa Clara has stumbled a bit as of late, but there’s no denying that the Broncos have the far more consistent and deeper offensive unit and I think the Broncos just end up being too much as they win by 15+. Give me Santa Clara here.