Gonzaga vs Saint Mary’s prediction, college basketball game preview, how to watch: Tuesday, March 8
Gonzaga vs Saint Mary’s How To Watch
Date: Tuesday, March 8
Game Time: 9:00 ET
Venue: Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, NV
How To Watch: ESPN
Record: Gonzaga (25-3), Saint Mary’s (25-6)
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Gonzaga vs Saint Mary’s Game Preview, West Coast Conference Tournament Final
Why Gonzaga Will Win
So was that just a bad day? It seems like it.
Gonzaga is still the No. 1 team in the nation a few weeks after getting popped by Saint Mary’s 67-57 – that was helped by seemingly all the other top teams losing that weekend, too – but it was able to get it back a bit in an 81-71 win over San Francisco in a game that wasn’t quite as tight as the final score.
It wasn’t a perfect performance, but Gonzaga went back to being Gonzaga, hitting 58% from the field helped by 20 assists.
Yeah, Saint Mary’s might have won at home, but it got whacked in the first meeting 74-58 when Gonzaga was able to crank up the rebounds, the inside scoring, and it generated 16 assists.
It only had four in the loss.
The time off between the loss and the date with the Dons on Monday night was obviously spent getting down the passing again, but …
Why Saint Mary’s Will Win
Give Saint Mary’s credit for just being that good – even though things started to slip late in the 75-72 win over Santa Clara.
It might not be spectacular, but it’s a rock-solid sound team with one of the nation’s best defenses – it allows just 59 points per game with the ability to hang with Gonzaga on the boards and win the turnover battle.
Not only did the Gaels shoot well in the West Coast Conference semifinal, but they only turned the ball over a grand total of eight times – it had just two turnovers with eight minutes to play.
And that’s how this has to work.
They have to once again slow things down against Gonzaga, pack it in, and not give up a ton of points on the move. For all of the great things the Bulldogs do, they’ve been a wee bit shaky from three – they only hit 23% against San Francisco.
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Gonzaga vs Saint Mary’s: What’s Going To Happen
Gonzaga will come out looking to make a big statement that the loss a week ago was a blip, but Saint Mary’s isn’t the type of team that allows angry offenses to go off.
The scoring pop might not be quite there to get back in the game if Gonzaga goes on an early run, but it’ll hang around.
The Bulldogs won’t be great from the outside, but the passing will be strong in the second half, leading to a mini-run to build up the lead just enough to get out with the win as they lock in a No. 1 seed.
Gonzaga vs Saint Mary’s Prediction, Lines
Gonzaga 76, Saint Mary’s 65
Line: COMING, o/u: COMING
ATS Confidence out of 5: COMING
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