Santa Clara Broncos vs. Saint Mary’s Gaels prediction, pick for NCAAM on Wednesday 2/25/26
Sean Barnard particulars his pick and prediction for the Santa Clara Broncos vs. Saint Mary’s Gaels school basketball matchup.
Closing down tonight’s school basketball motion, the Santa Clara Broncos face off with the Saint Mary’s Gaels.
This is the second matchup between these two West Coast Conference groups this season. They confronted off for the primary time on January 17, which resulted in a 62-54 Santa Clara victory. These two groups sit within the prime three seeds within the WCC, with Gonzaga holding the highest spot.
Looking on the odds, Saint Mary’s enters as a 5.5-point favourite with -265 Moneyline odds on DraftKings Sportsbook. Santa Clara holds +215 odds of pulling off the outright upset, with the sport complete set at 153.5 factors.
Santa Clara vs. Saint Mary’s prediction, preview
The Santa Clara Broncos maintain a 23-6 report on the season and have gone 14-2 in convention play. They enter this matchup with a victory over San Francisco within the earlier recreation and have gained 10 of their final 11. Their losses have come towards Gonzaga (twice), Saint Louis, New Mexico, Arizona State, and Loyola Chicago. On the season, Santa Clara has gone 16-12 towards the unfold, and the sport complete has gone over in 19 of their 28 qualifying video games. Its opening matchup of the season towards Humboldt State didn’t provide odds on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Herb Sendek’s squad is scoring 84.0 factors per recreation, which ranks twenty eighth amongst D1 groups. The Broncos additionally rank thirty eighth in offensive ranking, 52nd in subject purpose share, 169th in three-point share, and twenty seventh in three-point makes an attempt per recreation. Santa Clara is holding opponents to 72.0 factors per recreation, which ranks one hundred and twenty fifth out of the 365 qualifying groups. The Broncos additionally rank 67th in defensive ranking, 226th in opponent subject purpose share, and 124th in opponent three-point share.
Christian Hammond leads the workforce in scoring with 16.4 factors per recreation. He additionally provides 3.0 rebounds and a pair of.4 assists whereas taking pictures 40.4% from past the three-point arc. Elijah Mahi provides 14.4 factors, 4.4 rebounds, and a pair of.7 assists, whereas Allen Graves is the one different participant to common in double figures with 11.1 factors, together with a team-high 6.6 rebounds and taking pictures 40% on three-point makes an attempt. Aleksander Gavalyugov, Bukky Oboye, Brenton Knapper, and Jake Ensminger additionally play notable roles within the rotation.
Saint Mary’s holds a 25-4 report on the season and is 14-2 in convention play. The program enters this matchup on a six-game profitable streak, with its final loss coming on January thirty first. The Gaels’ 4 losses have come towards Vanderbilt, Boise State, Santa Clara and Gonzaga. On the season, Saint Mary’s is 18-10 towards the unfold, with no odds provided for the matchup with DII UC Merced, and the sport complete is 12-16 to the over/underneath.
Paulius Murauskas headlines the manufacturing with 19.0 factors per recreation, together with 7.6 rebounds and a pair of.3 assists. Joshua Dent provides 13.2 factors and 5.7 assists whereas main the convention with 36.0 minutes per recreation. Mikey Lewis is the one different participant to common in double figures, including 13.1 factors, 2.7 rebounds and a pair of.0 assists. Andrew McKeever pulls down a WCC-leading 9.2 rebounds per recreation alongside together with his 8.6 factors, whereas Dillan Shaw, Liam Campbell, Harry Wessels and Tony Duckett spherical out a lot of the notable rotation.
Saint Mary’s scores 78.4 factors per recreation, which ranks 126th within the nation. They additionally rank fiftieth in offensive ranking, one hundred and tenth in field-goal share, 14th in three-point share and twenty sixth in rebounds per recreation. On the opposite finish, the Gaels are holding opponents to the seventh-fewest factors at 64.3 per contest. They rank seventeenth in defensive ranking, twenty fifth in opponent field-goal share and twenty eighth in opponent three-point share.
Santa Clara vs. Saint Mary’s pick, greatest wager
Santa Clara picked up a 62-54 victory within the first matchup between these two groups. The Broncos lined the 1.5-point spreadand the sport complete fell effectively underneath the 152.5 line. It was a wire-to-wire victory by Santa Clara wherein each groups struggled to shoot the ball. The Broncos shot simply 41% from the sphere and 21% on three-point makes an attempt. However, the Gaels had even better struggles, taking pictures 31% from the sphere and 18% on three-point makes an attempt.
These are two of the highest groups within the WCC, and it is a matchup either side will likely be able to carry their greatest effort to. My lean is towards the underneath to money once more tonight, with each groups making their opponent earn each single level. But I’m backing Saint Mary’s to even up the season collection and canopy the 5.5-point unfold.
The Gaels have been higher at house this season, going 10-4 towards the unfold in these matchups. They are additionally 16-9 ATS as a favourite and 14-3 ATS when taking part in on equal relaxation, which would be the case tonight. The 54 factors that Saint Mary’s was restricted to within the first recreation have been the fewest factors the Gaels have scored all season. Their next-lowest mark in a recreation was 63, and that got here with the worst taking pictures share from the sphere and past the three-point line all season. Santa Clara deserves credit score for this, however has not confirmed to supply this degree of defensive impression on a constant foundation. This was the third-fewest factors that Santa Clara had allowed all yr, with solely Louisiana and Cal Poly Humboldt scoring fewer.
Expect a greater effort from Saint Mary’s within the second matchup and for the Gaels to play nearer to the usual they’ve established all season. Both groups have a 14-2 convention report on the season, and this matchup will virtually definitely determine who finishes second within the convention. Saint Mary’s is the most effective general workforce and will likely be able to put forth a centered effort to show this. The Gaels’ loss to Santa Clara within the earlier matchup is the worst they’ve regarded all season, and so they have gained eight of their final 9 since this level. They are much better than they confirmed within the first matchup and will likely be able to show this tonight.
