Posted on
3/10/2008 5:40:51 PM
NCAA Basketball Betting - GONZAGA at SAN DIEGO
By Charles Jay
BetUS NCAA basketball betting odds: GONZAGA -7, Total 127.5
The San Diego Toreros (20-13 SU, 20-9 ATS), coming off a nice upset of Saint Mary's, will go after the West Coast Conference championship and the automatic NCAA bid that goes with it as they battle the Gonzaga Bulldogs (25-6 SU, 17-14 ATS) at 9 PM ET on Monday night at the Jenny Craig Pavilion in San Diego.
In the BetUS NCAA college basketball betting odds, Gonzaga is listed as a seven-point favorite, with a total of 127.5 points.
Here are some of the NCAA college basketball betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* GONZ has covered six of its last eight games
* GONZ has won its last eight games SU
* GONZ has won four of its last five road games SU
* GONZ has played seven of its last ten road games OVER the total
* SD has covered eight of its last eight games
* SD has won 12 of its last 14 games SU
* SD has played four of its last six games OVER the total
* SD has covered six of its last seven home games
* SD has won eight of its last nine home games SU
* SD has played four of its last six home games OVER the total
* SD has covered four of the last six meetings
* GONZ has won the last ten meetings SU
* GONZ has had the shooting edge in each of the last seven meetings
* GONZ has had the rebounding edge in five of the last six meetings
* SD has made more three-pointers in each of the last six meetings
Bill Grier has done a great job in his first season as head coach at San Diego, and in fact deserves consideration as coach of the year. A former assistant of Mark Few, he knows the Gonzaga system and personnel quite well, and like the Bulldogs of several years ago, he's had his guys thinking "upset." San Diego has scored wins this season over the likes of Kentucky, and beat nationally-ranked St. Mary's in two out of three meetings.
None of this, however, may be enough to get this team an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament, so a win tonight is critical. This team has some momentum coming in, and it was thought that with the WCC tourney on its home floor that would give the team an added boost. It has. But shooting from the free throw line has been a concern; in the last five games the Toreros have done better than 64% from the stripe only once.
Gonzaga is a high-octane team that can shoot the three (6.7 per game) and has a nice inside-outside thing going with pivot man Josh Heytvelt and guard Jeremy Pargo. But San Diego's deliberate, disciplined style has allowed it to stay in a lot of games by shortening them; that's what happened last time these two met, on February 18, when Gonzaga eked out a 59-55 victory on this floor.
San Diego is playing well enough to do it again, and we will take the surging Toreros plus the seven points in the BetUS NCAA college basketball betting odds.
JAY'S PLAY: SAN DIEGO
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(Charles Jay of http://www.eBookies.com gives it the old college try as a regular contributor to the BetUS Locker Room)