WCC Tournament Picks: Santa Clara Broncos vs. Gonzaga Bulldogs 3/6/17

Santa Clara vs. Gonzaga Pick

Will No. 4 Gonzaga run into any trouble when it takes on Santa Clara in the West Coast Conference Tournament Semifinal tonight at 9PM ET?

According to oddsmakers at BetDSI, Gonzaga is heavily favored today, as the Bulldogs are getting odds of -21.5 points against Santa Clara. The over/under total for the game is listed at 136 points. Gonzaga won both meetings this season by a combined score of 178-112. These two meet tonight from the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

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Gonzaga has just one loss this season, to BYU, but it bounced back from that loss on Saturday with an 82-50 win over Pacific. Zaga is now 30-1 on the season while putting up a 21-6-1 record against the spread. Gonzaga averages 85.2 points per game on offense while allowing 61.1 on defense. When away from home, the offensive numbers actually improve to 87.4 points per game. Nigel Williams-Gross is leading this year’s team with 16.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game while Przemek Karnowski is adding 12.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per contest.

Santa Clara defeated San Francisco 76-69 in the opening round of this tournament to move to 17-15 on the season. The Broncos are just 14-15-1 against the spread on the season as well. Santa Clara averages only 66.5 points per game on offense this year while allowing 65.5. Away from home the Broncos put up just 61.4 points per contest. Jared Brownridge is leading the team with 17.7 points per game, but second-leading scorer KJ Feagin is battling a concussion and may not play tonight. He averages 14.6 points per game.

Bet on Santa Clara vs. Gonzaga

The spread is large, but Gonzaga has dominated this series. While it may look to conserve for a championship game, I still think the Bulldogs can win by 22 points with some ease. They already have beaten Santa Clara by a larger margin twice this season and the Broncos could be without one of their top scorers.

 

COLLEGE BASKETBALL DAILY PREDICTION: GONZAGA -21.5