The No. 2 seed in the West Coast Conference tournament is on the line tonight when Gonzaga wraps up the regular season on the road at San Francisco.
Gonzaga (22-8, 13-4 WCC) and San Francisco (23-7, 13-4) trail WCC leader, No. 23 St. Mary’s (26-4, 16-1) heading into the conference tournament, which kicks off on March 6 in Las Vegas and will be televised on ESPN.
The Bulldogs have won eight of their past 10 games. Their only losses in that stretch were against St. Mary’s. San Francisco has won three straight since losing, 88-77, at Gonzaga on Feb. 13.
Four Gonzaga players finished with double-doubles in their first meeting. Graham Ike finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds, Michael Ajayi added 12 points and 10 rebounds, and point guard Ryan Nembhard chipped in with 18 points and 13 assists. The Bulldogs scored 52 points in the paint and out-rebounded the Dons 41-28.
Gonzaga is No. 8 in the NCAA’s NET rankings, but the Bulldogs are just 2-6 against Quad 1 teams. San Francisco is No. 60 in the NET rankings and has a 1-4 record against teams in Quad 1.
Gonzaga leads the WCC with 87.4 points a game, a .502 team field goal percentage, and a +3.30 turnover margin. The Bulldogs rank No. 2 in the conference with 39 rebounds a game. San Francisco ranks No. 5 in the league with 75.6 points a night and No. 6 with 34.9 rebounds a night.
Gonzaga at San Francisco Odds
Gonzaga is a 9.5-point college basketball betting odds favorite on BetMGM, and the Over/Under is 158.5 points.
The Moneyline is at -450 for Gonzaga and at +340 for San Francisco.
Gonzaga at San Francisco on TV
The West Coast Conference game featuring Gonzaga and San Francisco will be televised on ESPN.
Tip-off is scheduled for 11 p.m. ET.
Gonzaga at San Francisco Prediction
I predict Gonzaga wins, 82-76.
The Bulldogs have been battling St. Mary’s for the West Coast Conference crown the past few years, and that isn’t likely to change. The Gaels have gotten the better of them the past two seasons in the race for the regular-season title, but Gonzaga has been the WCC’s flagship program for a long time, and it isn’t about to pass the torch without a fight.
Gonzaga is the most complete team in the WCC. Its starting lineup is full of long, athletic scorers like Ike, who has posted seven double-doubles this season.
The Bulldogs’ offense is run by one of the nation’s best point guards in Nembhard. He set the West Coast Conference’s single-season assist record after tying his career-best with 15 against Santa Clara on Tuesday and leads the country with 295 assists. He has 12 double-doubles on his resume this season.
San Francisco is led by a pair of talented scorers. Malik Thomas leads the WCC with 19.3 points a game, and Marcus Williams is tied for No. 8 with 14.7.
If either of them get hot, the Dons can beat Gonzaga tonight, but they’re going to have to find a way to pull down more rebounds than the last time they played and pressure the Bulldogs into some uncharacteristically sloppy turnovers.
