March Madness Predictions: St. Mary's Gaels vs. Richmond Spiders
by Mike Rose
Our March Madness predictions continue at BetUS Sportsbook on Thursday afternoon with the collision between the St. Mary's Gaels and the Richmond Spiders.
The Gaels probably needed that major 19-point win against Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference Final to wrap up a berth in the NCAA Tournament. The victory was St. Mary's first against its hated WCC rivals in two years.
Richmond took a far easier road to reach March Madness. The Spiders played a huge out of conference schedule and followed that up by playing tremendous ball on their home court in A-10 play. A trip to the conference final in Atlantic City was only the icing on a very decorated cake.
#10 St. Mary's Gaels (26-5, 19-10 ATS) vs. #7 Richmond Spiders (26-8, 18-10-2 ATS)
College Basketball Odds:
St. Mary's Gaels +2
Richmond Spiders -2
Game Total 134.5
The Gaels may have four double digit point scorers on the average night, but if C Omar Samhan isn't rolling, the team doesn't stand a chance. The big man in the middle averaged 20.9 points, 10.9 rebounds, and 3.0 blocks per night in the regular season, and he'll look to terrorize a relatively undersized Richmond Spiders team on Thursday afternoon.
This is a very efficient team offensively, shooting 48.7 percent from the floor and 41.2 percent from beyond the arc, but its defense can be suspect at times.
Even though St. Mary's Gaels only conceded 66.0 points per game this year, it did give up 80 three times in its final five regular season battles.
The Spiders have been one of the best defensive teams in a conference known for its defense all season long. Richmond is only allowing teams to score 62.2 points per game this year.
When they've needed to come to the table and score some points, the Spiders have figured that out as well, as demonstrated in their 89-85 win over Xavier in the A-10 semifinals.
Gs Kevin Anderson and David Gonzalvez both have big time scoring abilities for this team. Both can stroke the ball from beyond the arc, as they're shooting 34 percent and 37 percent from downtown respectively.
Anderson is the squad's leading scorer at 17.9 points per game. Gonzalvez comes in just behind him at 14.5 points per game.
However, just like the rest of this team, what makes that duo so great is its defensive intensity. Anderson and Gonzalvez are averaging a combined 3.6 steals per game.
As a team, the Spiders are committing 8.3 thefts per game, which in relation to their 11.0 total turnovers per game, is an excellent stat.
College Basketball Insider Betting Tip : The Richmond Spiders are 10-2-2 ATS in their L/14 games overall.
Samhan and the crew are motivated to take this game, but the defense for Richmond is just too strong to overlook.
Many think that the Spiders can go a long way in this South bracket, particularly with a struggling Villanova team coming up next in all likelihood.
The momentum from a great A-10 Tournament will carry forward to Thursday, where the Spiders will bounce the Gaels from the dance.
Our March Madness predictions for this 7/10 battle are on Richmond.
My College Basketball Prediction: Richmond by 5
