St. Mary’s vs Loyola Marymount Prediction 1-7-25 College Basketball Picks

The Loyola Marymount Lions and the Saint Mary’s Gaels meet Tuesday in college basketball action from McKeon Pavilion. Here’s a St. Mary’s vs Loyola Marymount Prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best St. Mary’s vs Loyola Marymount pick.

Loyola Marymount Lions Betting Preview

Loyola Marymount’s season got off to a spotty start, but the team was able to readjust in late November and December. The Lions beat Life Pacific in their opener, then fell to UC Irvine, Saint Louis, and North Dakota. A 7-1 run came after that, with a lone loss to Colorado State surrounded by wins over Belmont, Wyoming, Nevada, Prairie View, UC Santa Barbara, Southern and North Alabama in succession otherwise. Since then it’s been a rough stretch against some tricky opponents. Loyola Marymount is 1-3 in their last quartet with a lone win over Oregon State alongside losses to San Francisco, Washington State, and Gonzaga.

In the Gonzaga matchup on Saturday, Loyola Marymount had a tall order from the very beginning, and things ended up pretty much how you might expect. The Lions came out of halftime looking up at a seemingly insurmountable 46-28 deficit and didn’t get any closer than that in the end. LMU fell behind even further on a 50-40 run in the second and took the blowout loss 96-68. Leading the team in scoring was Will Johnston with 18 points, one rebound, and one assist. Jevon Porter was the only other team player to finish in double-figures with 17 points, eight boards, and two assists. Both Caleb Stone-Carrawell and Alex Merkviladze each chipped in with nine points and a combined three boards in the losing effort.

Saint Mary’s Gaels Betting Preview

Over on the Saint Mary’s side, they got going on seven straight wins out of the gate this year. Those victories came in succession versus Towson, Chattanooga, Akron, Nebraska, Stanislaus State, Cal Poly, and USC. A 3-3 stretch ensued over the next six games. The wins in those outings were over UTSA, Utah, and Merrimack. Otherwise, it was losses to Arizona State, Boise State, and Utah State. Saint Mary’s has gotten back to business since then with three straight wins versus Pacific, Pepperdine, and Portland for a 13-3 overall record through 16 games.

Matched up against Portland in their Saturday game, the Gaels didn’t have too many issues. Saint Mary’s went into the locker room sporting a 28-19 edge, then found their offensive stroke on 53 more points for a blowout victory 81-58 in the end. Augustas Marciulionis led the team with 20 points, six rebounds, six assists, and two steals. Jordan Ross added 14 points with four boards and four assists, while Mitchell Saxen posted a team-high 10 rebounds, two assists, and nine points. Leading the bench players was Mikey Lewis with 12 points.

Why the Saint Mary’s Gaels will win

• Saint Mary’s has won each of its last 17 night games at University Credit Union Pavilion against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Loyola Marymount has lost each of its last 10 games at University Credit Union Pavilion.
• Saint Mary’s has won the first half in each of its last 17 night games at University Credit Union Pavilion against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Why the Loyola Marymount Lions will win

• Loyola Marymount has won six of its last eight games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

St. Mary’s vs Loyola Marymount Prediction

I’m just going to stay with Saint Mary’s here. The Gaels are looking pretty good over their last three games, and they’re coming off a dismantling of a struggling Portland team. Saint Mary’s posted 44.1 percent shooting from the field in that one with a 41-33 rebounding advantage and just seven turnovers. The 19 Pilots turnovers for 21 Gaels points helped quite a bit as well. Saint Mary’s has scored 68 or more points in all but two games so far this year (losses to Arizona State and Boise State), and they’ve got 70 or more in three straight (all victories). Loyola Marymount is going to have to turn it up significantly on offense in order to keep any kind of pace here.

Speaking of the Lions, they’re coming off a rough outing against a great Gonzaga team, shooting just 38.2 percent from the field with 14 turnovers for 17 Bulldogs points. LMU was realistically never going to compete in that one, but it continues a trend of fewer than 69 points in three of the last four games. I don’t think the Lions have the gas to keep pace here.