Santa Clara vs St. Mary’s 2/8/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds
St. Mary's Gaels (19-4) vs. Santa Clara Broncos (16-8)
February 8, 2022 11:00 pm EDT
The Line: Santa Clara Broncos +2.5 / St. Mary's Gaels -2.5; Over/Under: +140
(Get latest betting odds)
The St. Mary’s Gaels and the Santa Clara Broncos meet in college basketball action from the Leavey Center on Tuesday night.
The St. Mary’s Gaels will look to build on a 7th straight win after a 71-60 win over Loyola Marymount last time out. Matthias Tass leads the Gaels in scoring and rebounding with 13.2 PPG and 6.4 RPG while Alex Ducas has 11.1 PPG with 3.7 RPG. Logan Johnson has 10.7 PPG with 2.7 APG to cap off the trio of double-digit scorers for the Gaels so far this season while Tommy Kuhse has 9.9 PPG with 3.7 RPG and a team-high 3.4 APG to lead Saint Mary’s in the assist department this season. As a team, Saint Mary’s is averaging 69.9 PPG on 46.4% shooting from the field, 35% from three and 74.3% from the foul line while allowing 58.4 PPG on 41.6% shooting from the field and 33.1% from three this season.
The Santa Clara Broncos will try to build on a three-game winning streak after a 79-66 win over San Diego last time out. Jalen Williams leads the Broncos in scoring with 18.1 PPG with 3.9 RPG and a team-high 3.4 APG while Josip Vrankic has 14.9 PPG, 5.4 RPG and 3.3 APG. Keshawn Justice has 14 PPG with a team-high 7.8 RPG to lead the Broncos on the glass and PJ Pipes has 10.5 PPG with 3 APG to round out the group of double-digit scorers for Santa Clara so far this season. Parker Braun also has 8.7 PPG and 6.3 RPG for Santa Clara this season. As a team, Santa Clara is averaging 77.4 PPG on 48.8% shooting from the field, 37.9% from three and 75.9% from the foul line while allowing 70.8 PPG on 42.7% shooting from the field and 34.4% from three this season.
St. Mary’s is 4-0 ATS in their last 4 road games and 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games against a team with a winning record while the over is 5-1-1 in their last 7 games overall. Santa Clara is 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games overall and 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games as a home underdog while the over is 20-5-1 in their last 26 games as an underdog.
I get the case to be made for Santa Clara as a home dog here, as the Broncos have a lot of top-tier depth that can flat out play. However, the Gaels are red hot and while some teams go through droughts, the Gaels have a defense that travels and carries wherever they go. I think the defense for the Gaels holds true once again and gets the Gaels another victory here.
