Saturday college basketball and we will see the BYU Cougars travel to the McCarthey Athletic Center to take on the Gonzaga Bulldogs. The game has a start time of 10:00 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on ESPN 2. Current Vegas betting odds have the Bulldogs listed as 13 point favorites, while the total is set at 154.
Analysis: The BYU Cougars come in on a 5 game winning streak, which includes a 13 point win at Portland on Thursday night. The Cougars are now 22-8 on the year, which includes a 12-5 mark in the WCC and a 7-3 mark in true road games. BYU has gone 8-3 ATS in their last 11 road games, but just 8-20 ATS in their last 28 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600. The Cougars have been a very good offensive team this year, ranking 1st in the nation in scoring (84.4 ppg), 45th shooting (46.8%), 44th in 3 point shooting (38.5%) and 3rd in FT shooting (77.7%). The defense for this team has been very poor, ranking 307th in points allowed (72.0 ppg), 184th in defensive FG% (43.1%) and 66th in 3 point defense (31.8%).
The Gonzaga Bulldogs played a rather sluggish game on Thursday night vs San Diego, but still they won the game 59-39 to move to 29-1 overall on the year, which includes marks of 17-0 in the WCC and 15-0 at home. The Zags have gone 6-1-1 ATS in their last 8 home games vs. a team with a winning road record, while the favorite is 9-0-1 ATS the last 10 in the series. The Bulldogs have been a very good offensive team this year, ranking 14th in scoring (79.0 ppg), 1st in shooting (52.7%), 10th in 3 point shooting (40.5%) and 130th in FT shooting (70.2%). Defensively the Bulldogs have been very good this year, ranking 24th in points allowed (59.7 ppg), 15th in defensive FG% (38.1%) and 83rd in 3 point defense (32.2%).
Pick: Yes this will probably be a high scoring game, but I can't see it hitting the 150s at all. The played good defense at home this year where they have allowed just 52.6 ppg, and while BYU has struggled defensively overall, they have allowed just 63.6 ppg in their last 5 games. Gonzaga has not been a great offensive team at home, whey they have averaged just 70.6 ppg. That means that their home game have averaged just 124 ppg, which is 30 points less than this total. The under is 7-1 the last 8 in the series and 50-24-1 in the Zags' last 75 games vs the WCC. I say this one stays in the 140s.
-$25 of picks FREE! No Obligation - No Credit Card Required - Becoming a member is Fast and Free!
Stay on top of the latest odds and line moves for CBB Season with our real-time odds from Las Vegas and offshore!
Handicapping Tips: NBA Betting
Bryan Leonard and Steve Fezzik, from Pregame.com discuss some handicapping tips for betting the NBA.