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The 14th-seeded Grand Canyon Lopes (24-11) and No. 3 Gonzaga Bulldogs (28-5) tangle Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Denver. Tip time in this Midwest Region battle at Ball Arena is slated for 7:35 p.m. ET (truTV). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Grand Canyon vs. Gonzaga odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
Grand Canyon made it through the Western Athletic Conference Tournament as a 5-seed to punch its ticket to the Big Dance. The Antelopes rifled off 4 straight wins, shooting a robust 50.3% from the floor (48.4% on 3-pointers) along the way in those brackets. Friday will pose a tough test for a veteran five that hasn’t played a tough slate of good offensive teams.
Nationally-ranked No. 9 Gonzaga is the top-scoring team in NCAA-I (87.5 points per game). The Bulldogs have averaged even more — 92.3 PPG — in winning each of their last 9 games. Gonzaga is 16-1 against Quad 3 and 4 foes.
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Grand Canyon vs. Gonzaga odds
Provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 6:13 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline: Grand Canyon +1075 (bet $100 to win $1075) | Gonzaga -1900 (bet $1,900 to win $100)
- Against the spread (ATS): Grand Canyon +15.5 (-110) | Gonzaga -15.5 (-110)
- Over/Under (O/U): 155.5 (O: -112 | U: -108)
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Grand Canyon vs. Gonzaga picks and predictions
Prediction
Gonzaga 87, Grand Canyon 62
Moneyline
A wide gulf between these prices, and a near certainty the true odds are buried in there somewhere.
PASS.
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Against the spread
GU is 0-5 ATS over its last 5 NCAA tourney games. The Lopes are a slight lean but maybe just by a point or so, and that’s not enough to motivate a login to a sportsbook account.
PASS.
Over/Under
This match-up features fast-paced-high-octane-offense of Gonzaga against a slowest-third offense of Grand Canyon.
The Bulldogs had a stretch from Feb. 4-March 1 when their pace got faster and they shot 55.3% from the field while getting to the line 26.0 times per game and forcing 12.1 turnovers — an outlier uptick all the way. Take away that run. In Gonzaga’s last 10 games against Quad III opponents — in eight games prior to that stretch and 2 games since — the Under has gone 8-2.
Look for some peel-back here. We can still expect plenty of points for the Zags but in a neutral barn with something left in the tank for the 2nd round.
TAKE THE UNDER 155.5 (-108).
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