The No. 17 Saint Mary’s Gaels (22-5, 11-1 WCC) and San Diego Toreros (11-16, 4-9) clash in a West Coast Conference battle Thursday. Tip time at Jenny Craig Pavilion is slated for 9 p.m. ET. Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Saint Mary’s vs. San Diego odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
Saint Mary’s heads into Thursday’s action leading Gonzaga by 1 game in the WCC standings. The Gaels are closing out a stretch of 3-straight road games. SMC lost the opener of those 3, falling at Loyola Marymount in a Feb. 9 overtime game. The Gaels bounced back in the middle game of their road swing; they won at Portland, covering a -11 spread, in an 81-64 game Saturday.
The Toreros — losers of an 85-58 contest at SMC Dec. 29 — head into this home game off back-to-back losses. San Diego is 1-4 straight up and 2-3 against the spread since Jan. 28.
Rankings courtesy the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
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Saint Mary’s at San Diego odds
Provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 12:05 p.m. ET.
- Moneyline: Saint Mary’s -1000 (bet $1000 to win $100) | San Diego +600 (bet $100 to win $600)
- Against the spread (ATS): Saint Mary’s -13.5 (-110) | San Diego +13.5 (-110)
- Over/Under (O/U): 136.5 (O: -115 | U: -105)
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Saint Mary’s at San Diego picks and predictions
Prediction
Saint Mary’s 74, San Diego 62
Moneyline
Avoid the extra juice here. STEER CLEAR.
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Against the spread
Saint Mary’s is a much better squad, but the spread here is inviting for underdog bettors. San Diego has been hot from distance the last couple games. And peg the Toreros’ iffy defense as being ripe for a regression.
The Gaels could get caught in being a bit road-weary and looking ahead to a key game against BYU Saturday.
BACK SAN DIEGO +13.5 (-110).
Over/Under
The O/U is split 4-4 across the last 8 games in this series.
This WCC tilt figures as a turtle-(SMC)-and-rabbit (USD) affair. This figure is a fair one.
PASS.
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