St. Mary's Gaels vs. Gonzaga Bulldogs Betting Odds

Opening Line: St. Mary's +4/ Gonzaga -4 O/U 145

Time: 9:30 PM EST Monday on ESPN

Tonight in the West Coast Conference finals in Las Vegas the 14th ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs face the St. Mary's Gaels. Gonzaga is looking for their 10th WCC title in 12 years and they have won 9 of the last 11 WCC tournaments.

Gonzaga has won 6 straight games against St. Mary's.

St. Mary's had almost an identical record last year that they have this year and they lost in the WCC final to Gonzaga, but did not get an invite to the Big Dance. If they win this game they will make it to the NCAA tournament while Gonzaga will get an invite regardless of tonight's outcome.

This season St. Mary's is 19-10 ATS and Gonzaga is 15-11-1 ATS.

St. Mary's has a great offense averaging just under 80 ppg and they are led by star C Omar Samhan (21.5 ppg), who has averaged 26.0 ppg and 11.5 rpg against Gonzaga. The Gaels are not one-dimensional though, as they also have 3 guards and a F/C averaging in double figures.

The Bulldogs not only have to worry about Samhan, but the other Gaels' big man F/C Ben Allen (10.5 ppg). Allen has only averaged 7.5 ppg when facing Gonzaga and when he scores in double figures St. Mary's is 18-0 this season.

Gonzaga also has a well-balanced offense with 2 guards, a forward, and a center averaging in double figures led by G Matt Bouldin (15.8 ppg).

Bulldogs' C Robert Sacre (10.1 ppg 5.1 rpg) and F Elias Harris (14.9 ppg 7.2 ppg) not only have to provide some offense, but to keep Samhan (11.1 rpg) and Allen (7.6 rpg) off the boards tonight.

St. Mary's has to play a good all around game on D and really focus on containing Harris, who has killed the Gaels this season averaging 25 ppg and 8.5 rpg in two games.

The Bulldogs won both games against the Gaels this season and neither game was very close, as Gonzaga beat them at St. Mary's 89-82 in the middle of January and a month later they killed them at home 80-61.

St. Mary's is 7-3 ATS in their last 10 neutral site games, 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games against teams with a winning percentage above 60%, and has an Under record of 7-2 in their last 9 games.

Gonzaga is 4-1-1 ATS in their last 6 neutral site games, 6-2-1 ATS in their last 9 games, and has an Under record of 6-2-1 in their last 9 games.

Our Selection : The Bulldogs and Gaels played on February 11th with the Zags winning handily 80-61. While we expect Gonzaga to win this game and probably cover the small line but we feel the value is on the total. The Zags have given up an average of only 59 points per game over their last 5 and while that is impressive what stands out more is that they have held opponents to only 34.4 percent from the floor. We expect the Zags to continue their stellar defensive play tonight and believe that St Mary's has the defense to hold the Bulldogs to under 80 points. Take under 145 points.