College Basketball Spread Pick – #2 Gonzaga Bulldogs vs St Mary’s Gaels

With this Gonzaga vs St Mary’s pick the #2 Bulldogs are at -5.5. Our Gonzaga vs St Mary’s pick notes that the #2 Gonzaga Bulldogs (24-1 Overall, 10 WCC) top their conference while the St Mary’s Gaels (20-5 Overall, 7-3 WCC) are second. The Gaels are three games in back of the Bulldogs. This is the first of two meetings between these two West Coast Conference rivals. The second meeting is scheduled for Saturday, February 29. That is the last day of the regular season. This initial matchup will be played Saturday, February 8, 2020 at 10:00 pm ET. The two teams will meet on St Mary’s home court, the University Credit Union Pavilion in Moraga, CA.

Gonzaga vs St Mary’s Pick – Recent Performance

The Bulldogs have won 16 straight games. They are perfect in the conference. They’ve won their last 10 games by an average of 23 points. The Bulldogs last played on February 6 when they beat Loyola Marymount 85-67. Their one and only loss thus far came on November 29. The Michigan Wolverines beat Gonzaga convincingly 82-64.

The Gaels have put together three winning streaks of four or more games. Their longest streak was early in the season when they ran off eight straight wins and went 9-1 in their first 10 games. In those 10 games, St Mary’s did beat #15 Utah State 81-73. Their winning streak was broken when #19 Dayton beat the Gaels 78-68. St Mary’s is 5-1 for their last six games. They last played on February 6 beating San Diego 66-60.

Bulldogs at Gaels – Stats

Overall, the Bulldogs are miles above the Gaels statistically. Our Gonzaga vs St Mary’s pick observes that the Dogs are outscoring them 88.5 PPG to 76.8 PPG, better in field goal percentage 51.2% to 48.3%, and topping them in rebounds 40.7 per game to 32.9. They are also better in assists 17.3 to 13.0. St Mary’s does top Gonzaga in free throws 74.6% to 68.1% and three pointers 41.7% to 38.7%.

Player and Roster Assessment

Gonzaga will once again be without senior forward Killian Tillie and his 12.6 PPG and 5.0 RPG. Tille is nursing a ankle injury. In his stead, freshman Drew Timme, who’s hitting 60.9% of his field goals and 50.0% of his threes, has stepped up. He’s averaging 9.9 PPG and 5.6 APG. This is a team deep in front. Forward Filip Petrusev leads the Zags in points per game with 17.2 and rebounds per game with 7.8. Also in the paint, Corey Kispert is recording 14.0 PPG. In the backcourt, Admon Gilder is averaging 11.2 PPG and Joel Ayayi 11.0 PPG. Ayayi is grabbing 6.2 RPG while dishing off 4.5 APG.

St Mary’s has a trio of contributors. First in scoring is guard Jordan Ford with 21.0 PPG. He completing 48.0% of his field goals and 41.8% of his threes. Also in the backcourt, Tanner Krebs is hitting 10.5 PPG. In the paint, forward Malik Fitts, a 48.0% shooter, is averaging 16.9 PPG. He’s taking down 7.8 RPG.

Our Gonzaga vs St Mary’s Pick

The Gaels are very fine three-point and free-throw shooters. But their ranks are thin. The Bulldogs are a dominant team and especially deep. We’d be wary of taking Gonzaga with a 10-point spread here. But we like the Bulldogs at -5.5. Our Gonzaga vs St Mary’s pick is the Bulldogs at -5.5.

#2 Gonzaga Bulldogs vs St Mary’s Gaels Prediction – Summary

#2 Gonzaga Bulldogs at -5.5