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Top-ranked Gonzaga has cut a swath through every opponent thus far on its way to a possible undefeated season. But can they get some payback against a team that beat them last time out? And can they do it by enough of a margin?
Online College Basketball Bookies
Let’s explore their case and that of another favorite, as we size up Thursday hoops betting at BetOnline:
BYU Cougars at Gonzaga Bulldogs Predictions
When: 8:30 PM ET (ESPN)
NCAA Basketball Odds: Gonzaga -19, Total 163.5
Of course, Gonzaga, as the #1 team in the country, gets a lot of respect and finds itself laying a premium price more often than not.
BYU is no slouch, and has a win over San Diego State under its belt. But they haven’t encountered a real grueling slate. And we’re not all that confident that they can slow the pace down, which is tantamount to slowing the ‘Zags down.
What the Cougars have to count on is that they can perhaps impede Gonzaga, which doesn’t throw up a whole lot of threes, with their shot-blocking 7-3 pivot Matt Haarms, the transfer from Purdue.
So far only West Virginia has come within double digits of Gonzaga, and the victims include nationally-ranked teams like Kansas, Iowa and Virginia. And frankly, we’ve given up hoping for some team to come along and turn the pace into a slog against them – if Virginia couldn’t do it, no one can.
The Bulldogs have the best player on the floor in freshman guard Jalen Suggs, who may wind up the first pick in the NBA Draft. And they have a chip on their shoulder, with BYU having beaten them 91-78 in their last meeting (behind 53% shooting), one of just two losses Mark Few’s squad suffered last season. Lay it.
The Play: GONZAGA
NCAA Basketball Point Spread Odds
Nevada Wolf Pack at San Diego State Aztecs Predictions
When: 10 PM ET (CBS Sports Network)
NCAA Basketball Line: San Diego State -13, Total 136.5
The way it’s being done in the Mountain West, teams play back-to-back in the same location. Thus, these clubs will meet again at the Viejas Arena two nights from now.
San Diego State won its first 26 games last season. This year they are not quite at that level, but they have brought back enough talent to be a tournament team for Brian Dutcher, who succeeded Steve Fisher in the head coaching job.
The Aztecs depend an awful lot on three-point shooting, and they are good enough at it (38%) that they can extend leads over most foes. And the Nevada program has taken an understandable tumble from where it was two seasons ago, when they went 29-5 with stars like Jordan Caroline, and Cody and Caleb Martin. Steve Alford, in his second year at Reno after taking over for Eric Musselman (who moved on to Arkansas), has some work to do and has to have some patience.
The Wolf Pack is one of the more inexperienced squads in the nation, and the Aztecs have eight players in the rotation who are juniors or seniors. If Nevada was Duke, freshmen would be synonymous with “one and done” NBA prospects. But that is not the case here.
The Aztecs have been very good at pushing opponents out to the arc, and they’ll win a shootout like that against a Nevada team that, in a recent loss to Air Force, went TWO-for-24 from downtown.
The Play: SAN DIEGO STATE
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