Santa Clara vs San Diego Pick – Basketball Predictions & Odds 2/9/23

The San Diego Toreros and the Santa Clara Broncos meet Thursday in college basketball action from Leavey Center. San Diego is 11-14 overall this year. The Toreros beat LMU in their last game. As for Santa Clara, they’re 17-8 so far following a win over San Francisco on Saturday. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

San Diego Toreros 

San Diego kicked off the season on a .500 run, going 8-8 over their first 16 games. The Toreros have gone 3-6 since then, taking losses to Pacific, BYU, LMU, Portland, San Francisco and Portland again. The wins came over Pepperdine (twice) and LMU. 

Matched up against LMU on Saturday, the Toreros were up 43-38 going into the second half. San Diego posted a 44-41 run from there and won the game 87-79. Leading the team was Marcellus Earlington with 30 points and six rebounds. 

Santa Clara Broncos

Over on the Santa Clara side, they got off to a solid start this year with a 13-3 stretch over 16 outings. The Broncos have gone 4-5 since then however, taking losses to Saint Mary’s, Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s again, Pacific and Gonzaga again in that time. 

On Saturday versus San Francisco, the Broncos took a 39-30 lead into the locker room. Santa Clara posted a 44-40 stretch from there and won it 83-70. Brandin Podziemski topped the team on 23 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double. 

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I’ll stick with Santa Clara in this one. The Broncos are just 1-3 in their last four outings, but they’ve faced some tough teams (Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga specifically) during that stretch. Santa Clara is still playing well in comparable matchups however, and should have a good game versus San Diego. Speaking of the Toreros, they’ve given up 78 or more points in seven straight games so the Broncos should have plenty of scoring opportunities. I like San Diego to hang around for a while before Santa Clara takes control and covers.