Bulldogs Try To Stay Perfect in Conference Play
The No. 9 Gonzaga Bulldogs go for a ninth straight win when they visit the Santa Clara Broncos for a West Coast Conference contest on Saturday night. Gonzaga escaped on the road in its last outing, winning by two points at San Francisco to stay in a first-place tie with Saint Mary’s in the WCC standings. Santa Clara is among four teams tied for third place, a half-game behind the conference leaders, after a win over Pepperdine on Thursday. Both teams have been playing well of late, so to help you decide how to bet online, read through our in-depth preview of this contest.
Let’s check the latest march madness predictions, stats, injury reports, and march madness picks for Gonzaga vs Santa Clara. We’ve plenty of march madness expert picks for you to consider.
Gonzaga Survives On Road
The Gonzaga Bulldogs have a 74-game home winning streak, but away from Spokane, the team has been a little less dominant, going 5-2 on neutral courts and 1-1 in true road games this season. Gonzaga played its first road game in West Coast Conference play on Thursday and had to rally for a two-point win thanks to Rasir Bolton’s basket with seven seconds to play.
“I was just trying to win, just do whatever it took,” Bolton said after Thursday’s win. “We came out kind of flat. It was a rough game. We battled the whole time trying to fight back. But at the end, we came out with the win.”
Bolton scored 11 of the Bulldogs’ final 15 points over the final 5:15, finishing with 21 for the game. The senior guard is averaging 11.4 points and 2.7 assists while shooting 42.9% from 3-point range.
Center Drew Timme continues to be the top offensive performer for the Bulldogs, scoring 21.9 points per game to rank seventh in the country. Time is also grabbing a team-high 8.1 rebounds per game and shooting 62.5% from the floor.
Santa Clara Hoping For More Offense
The Santa Clara Broncos are averaging 74.2 points per game, which ranks ninth in the 10-game West Coast Conference. Santa Clara has scored 79 or more points in its last two wins but managed just 64 points in its only conference loss against Saint Mary’s last weekend.
To keep up with Gonzaga, the Broncos will need a big game from guard Brandin Podziemski. The sophomore is the Santa Clara leader in scoring (18.8 points), rebounding (8.6), assists (3.4) and steals (2.2) while shooting 39.4% from 3-point range.
Center Jaden Bediako will also need to be at his best against the Bulldogs, and Timme in particular. The 6-10 senior is averaging 7.1 points and 6.1 rebounds but has averaged 9.0 points and 9.5 rebounds over the last two games.
Sophomore guard Carlos Stewart is also dangerous when he gets hot. Stewart is averaging 14.8 points and hitting 41.9% from 3-point range.
Gonzaga vs Santa Clara Injuries
Gonzaga vs Santa Clara Head-To-Head
The Gonzaga Bulldogs are on a 24-game winning streak against the Santa Clara Broncos, dating to January 2011. In fact, after the team’s split their first four all-time meetings in the early 2000s, Gonzaga has gone 45-2 against the Broncos.
Three of the four Santa Clara wins against the Bulldogs have come at home. The college basketball lines for Saturday’s are, as you might expect, giving the edge to the visitors to come away with the win.
Gonzaga vs Santa Clara Information
- Game: Gonzaga (13-3, 2-0 WCC) vs Santa Clara (14-4, 2-1 WCC)
- Location: Leavey Center
- Day/Time: Saturday, 10:00 p.m. ET
- Gonzaga vs Santa Clara Live Stream: TBS
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Gonzaga vs Santa Clara Betting Lines
Gonzaga vs Santa Clara Picks and Prediction
The Gonzaga Bulldogs survived a road scare on Thursday, so they should be focused against the Santa Clara Broncos in this one. It won’t be easy, but we like the Bulldogs to pull away late to win and cover the spread.
When doing your college basketball betting, take Gonzaga to win and cover on the road.
Gonzaga is listed at -405 in our Vegas lines. This means that if you wager $100 on Gonzaga, you have a chance to win $25. Santa Clara is +325, offering a chance to win $325 on a $100 wager.
The implied probability attached to the betting lines gives Gonzaga an 80.20% chance to win, with Santa Clara at 23.53%.
Gonzaga vs Santa Clara Trends
Gonzaga vs Santa Clara Edge
Gonzaga vs Santa Clara Results
Gonzaga vs Santa Clara Game Summary
