The BYU Cougars take on the Saint Mary's Gaels. Check out our college basketball odds series for our BYU Saint Mary's prediction and pick. Find out how to watch BYU Saint Mary's.
The Saint Mary's Gaels have thrived in WCC competition this season. Coach Randy Bennett — who passed the 500 career win mark earlier this season — just keeps cranking out well-coached teams in Moraga, California. He keeps developing players who know how to run structured halfcourt sets on offense and are rugged, tough, relentless defenders at the other end of the floor. Saint Mary's has lost only one WCC game and leads Gonzaga by one game with the regular season winding down. Saint Mary's visits Gonzaga next week, so the Gaels know they need to keep winning in order to get at least a share of the WCC championship this season. As long as Saint Mary's wins every non-Gonzaga game, it will at least split the WCC title with the Zags.
This game against BYU is the “other” rivalry in West Coast Conference hoops. Saint Mary's-Gonzaga is the main one, but this rivalry goes under the radar. In the previous meeting between these teams, Saint Mary's scored in the final seconds to beat BYU by one point in Provo. The Cougars will try to get even in the rematch in Moraga. BYU will try to spoil SMC's pursuit of the No. 1 seed at the WCC Tournament.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the BYU-Saint Mary's College Basketball odds.
College Basketball Odds: BYU-Saint Mary's Odds
BYU Cougars: +9.5 (-102)
Saint Mary's Gaels: -9.5 (-120)
Over: 129.5 (-110)
Under: 129.5 (-110)
How To Watch BYU vs. Saint Mary's
TV: ESPN2
Stream: ESPN+
Time: 10:00 p.m. ET, 7:00 p.m. PT
*Watch BYU-Saint Mary's LIVE with fuboTV (Click for free trial)*
Why BYU Could Cover the Spread
This is a large spread. It's true that Saint Mary's is the better team, and it's also true that Saint Mary's is playing at home against a BYU team which will not make the NCAA Tournament. It's also true that BYU just did lose at home to Santa Clara to fall even further in the WCC standings. It's true that BYU is now seventh in the WCC, meaning that if the season ended today, the Cougars would have to play a first-round game and wouldn't receive a bye into the quarterfinals. That is almost unheard-of for BYU and a sign of how horribly this season has unfolded for the Cougars. Yet, if you look at how BYU has played against the big dogs in the West Coast Conference, the Cougars have covered the spread in each of their two games against Gonzaga. They covered the spread in their previous game versus Saint Mary's. There's a pretty consistent trend here in which BYU plays down to the competition in the lower half of the WCC but raises its game for the top teams.
Why Saint Mary's Could Cover the Spread
The Gaels' WCC record has only one blemish, and that came in a game the Gaels led by four points with 15 seconds left. This team has been so noticeably consistent and reliable within the West Coast Conference this season. The fact that Saint Mary's needed a last-second basket to beat BYU earlier this season in Provo should give the Gaels all the focus and clarity they need. They are not going to jog through this game and assume they can handle BYU without any problems. No, they're going to really go after this game and play a lot harder — and better — than they did in the first meeting against the Cougars a few weeks ago.
Final BYU-Saint Mary's Prediction & Pick
The Gaels are the better team, but BYU has very clearly shown that it can — and will — play close games against the top teams in the West Coast Conference. Take BYU.
Final BYU-Saint Mary's Prediction & Pick: BYU +9.5
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