The Grand Canyon Antelopes take on the Saint Mary's Gaels. Check out our Men's March Madness odds series for our Grand Canyon Saint Mary's prediction and pick. Find how to watch Grand Canyon Saint Mary's.
The Saint Mary's Gaels stumbled out of the blocks this season. They lost at home to Weber State. They lost at home to Missouri State. They lost a number of games they should have won. They went through long scoring droughts late in games. Their talent — on display the previous season when they reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a young roster — was not emerging nearly as fully as they expected or hoped. Saint Mary's certainly did not have the results or the national profile needed to get an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Things looked grim for a team which was struggling to figure out what was going wrong and why the pieces weren't coming together.
Then the Gaels entered conference play. They lost only one conference game all season long, the very last one of their regular season. Saint Mary's wound up going 17-1 in 18 West Coast Conference games. The Gaels mopped up the league and won both the regular-season and tournament championships in the WCC, claiming two wins in three games versus Gonzaga. Saint Mary's was not likely to make the NCAA Tournament in late December. The Gaels were going to need something special to turn their campaign around. Going 17-1 was indeed special, and here the Gaels are in March Madness.
Grand Canyon is back in the NCAA Tournament, enjoying a prosperous time under head coach Bryce Drew, who has won consistently at the Phoenix-area school. Drew has succeeded while his previous employer, Vanderbilt University, has failed under Jerry Stackhouse, whom the Commodores recently fired. Drew has significantly elevated his own status in the coaching world, and with a win over Saint Mary's, his stock will rise even more.
Here are the Grand Canyon-Saint Mary's Men's March Madness odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
Men's March Madness Odds: Grand Canyon-Saint Mary's Odds
Grand Canyon Antelopes: +5.5 (-110)
Saint Mary's Gaels: -5.5 (-110)
Over: 131.5 (-115)
Under: 131.5 (-105)
How To Watch Grand Canyon vs Saint Mary's
Time: 10:05 pm ET / 7:05 pm PT
TV: TruTV
Stream: fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why Grand Canyon Could Cover the Spread
The Antelopes are 29-4. They win and win and win. They have won as consistently as Saint Mary's has over the past two months of the season. When a team simply wins games left and right, it is hard to bet against them, especially if they are getting 5.5 points against the spread. A 29-win team could lose by five points and still cover the spread? That seems almost too good to be true. Almost. Grand Canyon plays great defense and has been a strong crunch-time team (the last five minutes of regulation in games) all season long. That's a great reason for bettors to trust GCU entering this game. Also keep in mind that Saint Mary's, while so good in the WCC, struggled a lot in nonconference games. This is a nonconference games. You could see some regression from the Gaels in this game.
Why Saint Mary's Could Cover the Spread
This is a nonconference game, but the larger point to make is that Saint Mary's figured out what was wrong in late December, fixed it, and remained elite for two months straight. The Gaels are not likely to suddenly lose their winning formula, having won 17 of 18 games. This team won't forget how to win and play well.
Final Grand Canyon-Saint Mary's Prediction & Pick
The Gaels have been lights-out for two months. They will play well one more time. Take Saint Mary's.
Final Grand Canyon-Saint Mary's Prediction & Pick: Saint Mary's -5.5
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