The Gonzaga Bulldogs take on the Santa Clara Broncos. Check out our college basketball odds series for our Gonzaga Santa Clara prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Gonzaga Santa Clara.
The Gonzaga Bulldogs have one of the most remarkable streaks in college basketball. You might ask, “Which streak?” Good point. Gonzaga certainly has a lot of different streaks in progress, given the prodigious accomplishments of this national power under coach Mark Few. One of the particularly noteworthy streaks — which is connected to the backdrop for this game against Santa Clara — is that Gonzaga has not lost a West Coast Conference game to a school other than Saint Mary's or BYU since February of 2014. That's nearly nine full years in which the Zags have managed to beat every other WCC school without fail.
Thursday, Gonzaga trailed on the road at San Francisco by 10 points at halftime. The Zags then trailed by six with 4:12 left. The streak was about to end … but then Rasir Bolton made a series of huge plays to turn the tide late. Gonzaga won in the last half-minute, pulling off a 77-75 comeback victory to maintain this most impressive streak. Now Santa Clara tries to take down GU and end this run of dominance in the WCC.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Gonzaga-Santa Clara College Basketball odds:
College Basketball Odds: Gonzaga-Santa Clara Odds
Gonzaga Bulldogs: -7.5 (-118)
Santa Clara Broncos: +7.5 (-104)
Over: 157.5 (-110)
Under: 157.5 (-110)
How To Watch Gonzaga vs. Santa Clara
TV: Root Sports (Regional Cable)
Stream: fuboTV (see below)
Time: 10:00 p.m. ET, 7:00 p.m. PT
*Watch Gonzaga-Santa Clara LIVE with fuboTV (Click for free trial)*
Why Gonzaga Could Cover the Spread
This team is resilient and resourceful. You saw this if you watched the end of the San Francisco game. Gonzaga just doesn't lose to non-BYU, non-Saint Mary's WCC teams. It usually beats BYU and Saint Mary's, too, but it has been nearly nine years since it lost to anyone else in the WCC. Keep in mind that Gonzaga didn't play well versus San Francisco on Thursday. One should expect a sharper, better, crisper, more urgent game from Gonzaga. The Zags are highly unlikely to give up the 46 first-half points they allowed to San Francisco two days ago. They're unlikely to get beaten on the glass the way they were by San Francisco in the first half on Thursday. Gonzaga should be able to rebound and defend a lot better, and that should lead GU to a 15-point win.
Why Santa Clara Could Cover the Spread
The Broncos are feisty and generally a good team. They are 14-4 overall, 2-1 in the West Coast Conference. They beat San Francisco by 12, indicating that they have a very good chance of finishing third in the conference behind Gonzaga (first) and Saint Mary's (second), the top two teams in the league. Santa Clara lost by only three points to Saint Mary's, giving Gonzaga's main challenger a good battle. If there was a team to break Gonzaga's special WCC winning streak, you would choose either San Francisco or Santa Clara. USF had its chance and blew it. Santa Clara is going to be extremely motivated for this game and will play it at home, and Gonzaga might be mentally drained after the big late comeback in San Francisco on Thursday.
The other thing to point out here is that Gonzaga just doesn't have the point guard or the interior defense of last season's team. It is clear that Gonzaga misses Andrew Nembhard at the point and Chet Holmgren in the middle. You can see that this Gonzaga team is several notches worse than last year's team (and the 2021 national runner-up team). Santa Clara can take advantage of these limitations.
Final Gonzaga-Santa Clara Prediction & Pick
The Zags are not going to play two clunkers in a row. They will take charge of this game and win by double digits.
Final Gonzaga-Santa Clara Prediction & Pick: Gonzaga -7.5
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