WCC Tournament: Gonzaga vs. Saint Mary’s odds, picks and predictions
The No. 8 Gonzaga Bulldogs (27-5) enter a rubber match against the No. 16 Saint Mary's Gaels (26-6) in the WCC Tournament title game Tuesday in Las Vegas at 9 p.m. ET (ESPN). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook's lines around the Gonzaga vs. Saint Mary's odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
Rankings courtesy of theUSA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
After losing 78-70 at Saint Mary's in overtime, Gonzaga was able to return the favor in the season finale beating the Gaels 77-68 to tie for the regular-season conference title - Saint Mary's did win the conference tournament's No. 1 seed through a tiebreaker. This game will be the rubber match as both will look to gain a valuable win for a higher NCAA Tournament seeding.
Gonzaga comes in ranked No. 1 in the country at 88.0 points on offense while Saint Mary's comes is 6th in defense allowing 59.3 PPG. If the big men of the Gaels can keep Gonzaga from getting 2nd-chance points, this will be another close game. If Gonzaga can use its experience and physical play, it could pull away and win the title.