No. 17 Saint Mary’s can clinch the outright West Coast Conference regular-season title on Thursday night with a win as a double-digit favorite on the NCAAB odds at struggling Pepperdine. The Gaels need to avoid looking ahead to Saturday’s regular-season finale vs. Gonzaga. For this game, before you decide what type bet you will taking, MyBookie experts have a betting preview for this college basketball game.
Saint Mary’s vs. Pepperdine Odds and Betting Analysis | MyBookie College Basketball Betting Preview for this Match
2024 NCAA Division I | 85th annual edition of the tournament
No. 17 Saint Mary’s Gaels vs. Pepperdine Waves
Saint Mary’s -15.5 / Saint Mary’s -2000; Pepperdine +1100 / O/U 138
Thursday, February 29th, 2024 at 11:00 PM ET | CBSSN, Paramount+
Firestone Fieldhouse, Malibu, CA
First Meeting
On Feb. 15, Pepperdine was destroyed 103-59 at Saint Mary’s as the Gael’s Augustus Marciulionis scored a career-high 28 points. Alex Ducas added 18 points and Aidan Mahaney scored 13 for Saint Mary’s. The Gaels made 32 of their last 41 shots from the field. Jevon Porter had 13 points to lead Pepperdine. The Gaels shot poorly early, making just 10 of their first 27 shots from the field. But they pulled away late in the first half by making five straight shots pointers during a 14-2 run that opened a 14-point lead. Ducas made a buzzer-beater to make it 43-27 at the break, and Saint Mary’s was never threatened in the second half.
Why Bet on Saint Mary’s?
Saint Mary’s (23-6, 14-0 WCC) clinched at worst a share of the WCC regular-season title on Saturday with its 15th straight win, 88-62 over San Diego. The Toreros closed the first half with center Steven Jamerson II meeting Saint Mary’s guard Augustas Marciulionis at the rim to reject a dunk, but trailed by a 43-30 margin at the intermission. Deuce Turner gave the Toreros some life at the 12 minute mark by converting an impressive four-point play before Saint Mary’s pulled away late and took its largest lead of the night (31 points) with 1:01 remaining in the game. The Gaels held USD to 36% from the field, and 21% from the three point line.
The Gaels have the longest active winning streak in the nation and wrapped up the No. 1 seed in the WCC tournament in Las Vegas next month. Saint Mary’s can win its first outright regular-season conference title since 2012 with a victory here. Also with a win against the Waves, the Gaels would clinch their first ever perfect road season.
“We’re not celebrating right now,” coach Randy Bennett said after Saturday’s win. “We’ve got another game Thursday in Malibu and we’ll go from there. These guys have been very good at being able to compartmentalize and not getting distracted on anything else.”
Mitchell Saxen led the SMC with 20 points, shooting 8-11 from the field. Saxen also added seven rebounds and two blocks, making his presence felt in the trenches. Alex Ducas scored 18 points with all 18 coming from beyond the arc on 6-for-7 shooting from deep. Ducas was also the team’s leading rebounder, tying his career-high with 12 boards. Aidan Mahaney put together a stellar all-around line, with 15 points, five rebounds and a career-best seven assists, while Augustas Marciulionis joined Ducas as the second Gael with a double-double, going for 13 points and 10 assists.
Saint Mary’s dished out a season-best 27 assists. The Gaels have reached 20+ assists as a team seven times this season and are 7-0 in those. Prior to this season, the last time the Gaels recorded 20+ assists in at least seven games was in the 2017-18 season when they did it seven times.
Six different Gaels shot 50% or better from the field in Saturday’s win, helping the team to a 56% shooting night. The win set a program record for consecutive conference wins at 14 in a row and marked the second time in program history that the Gaels have clinched a share of the WCC regular season title in back to back seasons, with the other occurring in the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons.
The Gaels rank in top-25 in the NCAA in seven different stat categories: rebounds per game (40.0, 23rd), assist/turnover ratio (1.58, 22nd), offensive rebounds per game (13.5, 18th), scoring margin (+16.1, 7th), FG% defense (38.8%, 5th), scoring defense (58.1, 2nd) and rebound margin (+12.0, 1st). Saxen is averaging 3.9 offensive rebounds per game, ranking him 7th in the nation.
SMC has held 13 opponents under 60 points this season, and is 13-0 in those instances. Teams are shooting just 31.2% from three-point range against Saint Mary’s. After starting the season at 3-5, and falling out of the Top 25, the Gaels have rallied back to win 20 of their last 21. The loss was to Missouri State out of conference on Dec. 23.
Why Bet on Pepperdine?
Pepperdine (12-18, 5-10) plays its regular-season finale and had a two-game winning streak snapped on Saturday in a 92-68 loss at a very good San Francisco team. Starting off the night on a hot streak, USF raced out to a 9-1 lead through the first six plus minutes as a Ndewedo Newbury layup at 13:57 got the Dons rolling early.
Locking down on defense in the early minutes, Junjie Wong pushed the USF advantage to fifteen points, 22-7, as the midway mark of the first half crossed on a layup of his own at the 9:25 mark. USF was up 43-29 at the break. The Dons were never threatened in the second half.
San Francisco only narrowly outrebounded the Waves at a count of 32-29, but made more of their boards count at a rate of 15 second-chance points to eight. The Dons shared the ball at a stellar rate, recording 20 total assists on the night. Pepperdine had only eight assists.
Jevon Porter led Pepperdine with 23 points on 7-of-12 field goal shooting while collecting five rebounds and two assists. Houston Mallette added 15 points, three boards and four assists. Michael Ajayi recorded his 15th double-double of the season to move into the lone spot atop the WCC in that category and put him tied for third in the Pepperdine single-season double-double leaderboard alongside Dana Jones (1993-94) and Stacy Davis (2015-16).
Ajayi was named WCC Player of the Week for last week with back-to-back double-doubles and leads the WCC with those 15. Ajayi averaged 21 points and 13.5 rebounds last week while shooting .500 from the field, .429 from long range and .882 at the charity stripe. Ajayi currently ranks in the top five of four different categories in the conference: First in scoring (17.5 PPG), second in rebounding (9.5 RPG) and fourth in field goal percentage (.466) and fourth in minutes (34.3 MPG).
Mallette also ranks in the top 10 for the following WCC categories: Fifth in scoring (15.0 PPG) and sixth in threes per game (2.2) as well as fourth in free-throw percentage (.817) and eighth in field goal percentage (.432). As a team, the Waves shoot 36.2% from beyond the arc which is good for first in the conference and pull down an average of 10.1 offensive boards for fourth in the league.
Since his return from injury, Porter has averaged 15.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game and earned a season-high 26 points against Pacific on Jan. 11 as well as his first double-double of the year against LMU on January 20 with 24 points and 12 boards.
Saint Mary’s Gaels vs. Pepperdine Waves Final Betting Thoughts
Saint Mary’s has basically dominated all season, while Pepperdine has struggled, which is why Saint Mary’s won by 44 points in their previous meeting this season. Saint Mary’s has home field advantage, so that is considered to give them the edge. So, with all that, the question would be, go against the spread or just go straight up, but with steep odds.
On Thursday, Pepperdine will be looking for its first win over an AP Top 25 team since beating No. 20 Wisconsin in November 2004.
No. 17 Saint Mary’s vs. Pepperdine
NCAAB Betting Pick: Saint Mary’s 74, Pepperdine 64 | Odds for College Basketball Games
MyBookie Betting Lines for the Game
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Saint Mary’s vs #1 Gonzaga Road to March Madness | 2021 NCAA Basketball Expert Analysis
Previous Betting News
Gonzaga’s biggest rival in the West Coast Conference is Saint Mary’s, and while the No. 1 Zags have dominated that rivalry for the most part, the Gaels have pulled a few big upsets. Gonzaga looks to take another step toward an unbeaten regular season when it hosts Saint Mary’s on Thursday and the Zags will be double-digit favorites on the NCAAB odds. They remain favorites to win the national title.
How to Bet Saint Mary’s at Gonzaga NCAA Basketball Odds & TV Info
- When: Thursday, 9 PM ET
- Where: McCarthey Athletic Center, Spokane
- TV: ESPN
- Stream: ESPN app
- Radio:com
Last Meeting
On Jan. 16, Gonzaga won 73-59 at Saint Mary’s. The SMC defense held the Zags to their lowest scoring total of the season and just 32 points in the first half. The Gaels were up 22-12 after a Fotu triple which put the Zags in the largest hole they’ve faced this season. However, an ensuing 16-2 run by GU would put them back up late in the period and up seven at half. The Gaels made just one of their last 16 shots to close the half. Saint Mary’s pulled to 56-48 on Dan Fotu’s layup with 9:01 to play before another decisive Gonzaga burst, this time 8-0. The Zags shot 53.8%.
Why Bet on Saint Mary’s? | 2021 NCAA Basketball Expert Analysis
The Gaels (11-6) probably will not be an NCAA Tournament team. They returned from a long COVID break Saturday and lost 60-58 at Pepperdine. It was the Gaels’ first game back since Jan. 23.After trailing by as many as 14 with less than eight minutes to play, the Gaels slowly chipped away at the Waves’ lead and would eventually tie the score up in the final seconds. Colbey Ross sank two free throws with 2.4 seconds left to break a tie. Ross collected 10 points and 10 assists for his second double-double of the season and the 14th of his career.
Tommy Kuhse had the ball on the final play for the Gaels and heaved up a 30-footer for the win but the shot bounced off the top of the backboard as the buzzer sounded.Matthias Tass led Saint Mary’s with 17 points, just one shy of his season-high, and also had a team-best seven rebounds. Johnson scored 12 on 4-of-7 shooting and Kuhse added 11 more with five assists. Alex Ducas played 20 minutes in his first game back from injury (Dec. 19).
The Waves had their best defensive showing of the season against a Division I team, both in terms of points allowed and field goal percentage (tied) as the Gaels shot 37.5%. The Waves, one of the nation’s top three-point defensive teams, held SMC to 4-for-24 (16.7%) from beyond the arc.
Saint Mary’s has finished t-2nd or higher in the WCC in 12 of the last 13 seasons but that’s not going to happen this year.
Why Bet on Gonzaga? | 2021 NCAA Basketball Expert Analysis
The Zags (20-0) were supposed to be tested Saturday at San Francisco but weren’t in a 100-61 victory. It was the Zags’ 24th straight win dating to last season and they have now reached at least 20 wins for the 24th consecutive season.Earlier Saturday, the Bulldogs were the No. 1 overall seed in rankings released by the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee. Selection Sunday is a month away. They played like the top seed against the Dons. Jacob Timme, who made 11 of his 12 shots in the game, scored 15 of Gonzaga’s first 17 points as the Bulldogs jumped to a 17-3 lead. San Francisco missed its first 10 shots from the field and it wasn’t until Anthony Roy scored with 11:38 left in the first that the Dons got their first field goal. At that point they trailed 20-6.
Timme finished with 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Aaron Cook, Joel Ayayi and Corey Kispert each scored 12 points for Gonzaga.
In the first 400 minutes of conference play this season, covering 10 games, the Zags have only trailed for 45 minutes and 58 seconds. Gonzaga and No. 2 Baylor are the only two unbeaten teams in the nation. Gonzaga remains first in the nation in scoring offense (92.7 ppg) and field goal percentage (54.8%).
On Monday, Timme was named WCC Player of the Week and Jalen Suggs the WCC Freshman of the Week. Over the last six contests, Timme has averaged 21.8 points per game, shooting 72.5 percent from the field, and grabbing eight rebounds per outing. Timme now paces the West Coast Conference with 19.35 points per game, at a league-leading 64 percent shooting from the field. He is fourth in the conference with four double-doubles, and fourth averaging 7.25 rebounds per game. Gonzaga has accumulated nine of the 12 player of the week awards in 2020-21.
Suggs tops the West Coast Conference in steals per game (2.17), is fifth in assists (4.39), and seventh in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.65). He has been named WCC Freshman of the Week nine times this season.
The Zags have won 19 of the last 23 in the series vs. Saint Mary’s and are 48-11 vs. the Gaels under 22nd-year Coach Mark Few.
Expert College Basketball Prediction
Gonzaga 81, Saint Mary’s 65
Pepperdine vs #1 Gonzaga | 2021 NCAA Basketball Expert Analysis
Previous Betting News
Top-ranked and unbeaten Gonzaga has largely been crushing people all season, and the Zags figure to continue that on Thursday as they will be huge home favorites on the NCAAB odds in West Coast Conference action against Pepperdine.
How to Bet Pepperdine at Gonzaga NCAA Basketball Odds & TV Info
- When: Thursday, 5 PM ET
- Where: McCarthey Athletic Center
- TV: ESPN2
- Stream: ESPN app
- Radio:com
Last Meeting
The Zags swept the Waves last season; the score at Pepperdine was 89-77 when Gonzaga was ranked No. 2 in the country and on a 17-game winning streak. The game was tied at 43 before Gonzaga took control with a 13-2 run. Corey Kispert’s 3-pointer with 15:33 remaining gave the Bulldogs a 46-43 advantage, and Joel Ayayi had five points during the spurt. Gonzaga’s largest lead was 14 late in the second half.
“We made too many mistakes and they capitalized on most of them,” Pepperdine coach Lorenzo Romar said. “We were able to hold the fort in the first half.”
Why Bet on Pepperdine? | 2021 NCAA Basketball Expert Analysis
The Waves haven’t played since a 79-51 blowout vs. CSU Bakersfield on Dec. 23 due to a couple of COVID postponements. The most recent one was Saturday at Saint Mary’s.he Waves will now play: Wednesday, January 27, vs. BYU, 12 p.m. (originally December 31); Tuesday, February 9, at San Francisco, 2 p.m. (originally January 7); Monday, February 22, at Saint Mary’s, 4 p.m. (originally January 2).
Pepperdine finished its non-conference schedule at 4-5 with that loss to Bakersfield three weeks ago. The Waves never led against the Roadrunners. The Waves shot a season-low 33.3% from the field while the Roadrunners were at 51.5%, a season high by an opponent. Pepperdine was outrebounded 45-22. CSUB had 18 offensive rebounds and a 22-10 edge in second-chance points. Turnovers were nearly even but CSUB had a 23-7 edge in points off turnovers.
Sophomore guard Sedrick Altman had a team-high 11 points along with five rebounds in the loss. Senior guard Colbey Ross had 10 points, four assists and two steals. Freshman forward Kendall Munson had nine points and team highs of six rebounds and three blocks.
Ross is on the Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy watch lists for National Player of the Year, as well as the Bob Cousy Award watch list for the nation’s top point guard. Ross is Pepperdine’s all-time leader in both points and assists, among many other school records. Among active Division I players, Ross ranks first in career assists (712) and free throws made (562) and is third in points (1,934). He’s tied at #5 on the WCC’s all-time assist list with Gonzaga’s Josh Perkins (712). Ross is first in the WCC in assists (7.2) and minutes played (38.4) and is tied for third in scoring (19.0).
Kessler Edwards is up to seventh all-time in blocked shots at Pepperdine. He ranks sixth in the WCC in scoring (17.2) and fifth in blocks (1.3). Two scoring milestones are upcoming. Ross (1,934 points) will soon become the first player in program history to get to 2,000, while Edwards (937 points) will become the 44th player to get to 1,000.
Pepperdine is #7 in the country in free throw percentage (81.4%). The Waves were picked to finish fourth in the WCC preseason coaches’ poll.
Why Bet on Gonzaga? | 2021 NCAA Basketball Expert Analysis
The Zags (12-0) improved to 3-0 in the WCC with a 116-88 win at Portland on Saturday. It was Gonzaga’s first “true” road trip of the season — the team played a number of early season neutral site games.Portland hung with the Zags at the start, but starting forward Eddie Davis collected two early fouls and went to the bench. The 6-foot-6 junior was averaging 11.2 points and 5.2 rebounds heading into the game. Gonzaga started pulling away midway through the first half when Joel Ayayi’s jumper made it 23-16. The Zags stretched the lead to 39-25 on Anton Watson’s layup and led 56-35 at the half.
Ayayi had the first triple-double in school history with 12 points, 14 assists and 13 rebounds, while Drew Timme had 26 points for the Bulldogs, who have won 16 in a row dating to last season. Corey Kispert, who leads the WCC in scoring, finished with 14 points. Leading the nation in scoring offense, Gonzaga has 85 or more points in every game this season.
Ayayi was named the WCC Player of the Week on Monday. Ayayi’s 14 assists were the second-most in program history, and the most since Blake Stepp’s record of 16 in 2002. Most impressively, Ayayi’ 14 assists came with no turnovers in 28 minutes of action. Ayayi’s triple-double was the first in the West Coast Conference this season, and first since Loyola Marymount’s Eli Scott had one versus Grambling last season on Dec. 7. It’s the first triple-double in a WCC game since BYU’s Kyle Collinsworth achieved the feat versus Portland in 2016.
Ayayi’s 8.08-rebound average ranks third in the conference, and is the most by a guard in program history. Ayayi is second in the WCC in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.40) and fifth averaging 1.33 steals per game.
The Bulldogs have won 39 straight against Pepperdine and are 43-2 during Coach Mark Few’s tenure. The last time the Waves beat the Bulldogs was in 2002.
Expert College Basketball Prediction
Gonzaga 93, Pepperdine 73
2020 Gonzaga vs Pepperdine NCAA Basketball Odds & TV Info
Previous Betting News
No. 2 Gonzaga could clinch yet another West Coast Conference regular-season title on Saturday night with a win at Pepperdine and some help elsewhere. The No. 2 Zags are heavy favorites on the Mybookie NCAAB odds to do their part. Let’s see how the College Basketball betting odds will be for the Gonzaga vs Pepperdine.
Gonzaga vs Pepperdine NCAA Basketball Odds & TV Info
- When: Saturday, 10 PM ET
- Where: Firestone Fieldhouse, Malibu
- TV: Fox Sports 1
- Opening NCAAB Lines: TBA
Gonzaga vs Pepperdine Season Series
Pepperdine gave the Zags a scare on Jan. 4, losing just 75-70 in Spokane. Killie Tillie scored 20 points and blocked a potential tying shot in the closing seconds. Filip Petrusev scored 16 points and Joel Ayayi had 12 for Gonzaga. Colbey Ross scored 24 points and Kameron Edwards 14 for Pepperdine. The Waves have lost 38 straight games to Gonzaga since their last win in 2002. The game was tied 59-59 at one point.
Why Bet on Gonzaga?
The Zags (25-1, 11-0 WCC) won their 17th game in a row last Saturday at a good Saint Mary’s team, 90-60. Gonzaga made 14 of its first 15 shots to send Saint Mary’s to its worst home loss in 19 years. It was the first meeting between the teams since the Gaels shocked the top-ranked Bulldogs 60-47 in the conference tournament final last March.
The Zags took control with a 22-2 run in the first half. They held the Gaels without a basket for a span of more than seven minutes and missed only one shot of their own in the first 12:35. Killian Tillie missed Gonzaga’s two previous games before returning against Saint Mary’s and went for 19 points on 10 shots in 25 minutes. In his past three full games, he’s averaging 21.0 points and 6.7 rebounds while shooting 8-for-13 from 3-point range. Filip Petrusev added 18 points and 11 rebounds vs. SMC.
The Zags are the lone team in the nation to have six players averaging double-digit scoring per game, with a seventh player averaging 9.9 points per outing. The Bulldogs are first in the nation in scoring offense and margin of victory.
Gonzaga has won 17 straight games overall since losing to Michigan on Nov. 29 in the Bahamas and have also won 38 straight regular-season conference games, the longest active streak in the country. The victory also gave the Zags their 13th straight 25-win season. Only Kansas (13), Duke (11) and GU have reached 25 wins in each of the last 11 seasons.
The Zags’ 17 consecutive true road wins is currently the longest active streak in the country. Gonzaga has won 37 straight conference road wins.
Why Bet on Pepperdine?
The Waves are on short rest as they hosted San Diego on Thursday. With three weeks left in the West Coast Conference’s regular season, Pepperdine needs a strong finish to keep its spot in the top half of the standings.
Colbey Ross is on the Lou Henson Award midseason watch list. He is averaging a WCC-best 7.3 assists per game. Nationally, he’s first in total assists and fifth in assists per game. Ross has more career assists than any junior in the country. He owns Pepperdine’s all-time assist record and he will eventually set the all-time scoring record as well.
The trio of Ross (second in the WCC at 19.7 ppg), Kameron Edwards (third at 17.3) and Kessler Edwards (12th at 13.8) has scored 64.0% of the Waves’ points this season. Both Edwards brothers — Kessler (third, 7.5) and Kameron (fifth, 7.0) — are in the top five in the WCC in rebounding. Kessler leads the WCC in blocked shots (1.6). Pepperdine ranks second nationally in free throw percentage at 80.1%. Ross leads the WCC at 86.6% and has made 142 free throws, fourth-most nationally.
If Ross (19.7) and Kameron Edwards keep on their scoring pace, it’ll be the first time that the Waves will have two players average at least 16 ppg in the same season since 2004-05.
The Waves have been without multiple players due to injury or illness 22 times this season, and have been without at least three in 17 consecutive games. Only three players have appeared in every game this season. Jan Zidek (hand) first missed the January 11 San Diego game and has now missed the last 10 overall. Jadé Smith (knee) has missed a total of 18 games, including each of the last 16. Andre Ball (knee) suffered a season-ending injury before the first game.
Gonzaga vs Pepperdine Expert Prediction
Gonzaga 91, Pepperdine 71
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