The Gonzaga Bulldogs are looking forward to the start of West Coast Conference play. Gonzaga has dominated this conference since Mark Few became the head coach, winning the regular season title 16 times and the conference tournament 14 times in the past two decades. The Bulldogs are the overwhelming favorites to win the title yet again this season. Their first test will come in the form of the Pacific Tigers.
This war on the floor will go down Thursday, December 28, 2017, at 9 p.m. ET at McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, Washington. The game will be televised live on ESPN2. We'll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the college basketball Thursday schedule.
Opening College Basketball Odds at BookMaker.eu
Pacific has only made the NCAA Tournament once in the past decade and is behind the eight ball when it comes to getting back. The Tigers are 5-8 this season and 4-7-1 ATS under second year head coach Damon Stoudamire. Pacific has lost four in a row and only covered one of those games. The over is 8-4 in Tigers games this season and 5-1 when they are playing on the road.
The Bulldogs have had one of the tougher schedules in the country to date. Gonzaga is 10-3 with losses to Florida, Villanova, and San Diego State. However, they have some very nice wins on their resume to and that will help them come tournament time. This is one of the highest scoring teams in the country and that has meant quite a few overs. Seven of their last eight games have finished over the total.
Matchup to Watch
Pacific runs a lot of four guard sets under Stoudamire. It makes sense considering he was one of the NBA’s best guards for a decade, but also means that this team has some problems defending the paint.
The Tigers’ leading rebounder is 6’5 guard Jahlil Tripp. Tripp is able to pull down an impressive amount of boards, averaging 9.5 RPG, but quite a bit of that is due to his playing time and role. He averages more minutes than anyone else on the team and is tasked more with rebounding than shooting.
We might be seeing a lot more of seven-footer Namdi Okonkwo in this game. He is four inches taller than anyone else in the rotation, but doesn’t see much playing time. His size may be needed to counter Gonzaga.
Player to Watch
Johnathan Williams has been the main man for Gonzaga all year long. Williams leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 15.2 PPG and 7.8 RPG. The former Missouri transfer is also one of the team’s most efficient shooters and has come up big in recent weeks.
Williams does have two weaknesses though. He can get into foul trouble a little too easily and has had a hard time hitting the three. The foul trouble hurt Gonzaga in its game against Villanova, with Williams fouling out after just 18 minutes of action on the court. That put the Bulldogs in a very bad spot that they couldn’t come back from.
Additionally, he is just 4-16 from beyond the arc this season. He had hit at least 34.4 percent of his threes in his first three seasons, but has not been able to find his range this year.
Free College Basketball ATS Picks
Pacific has really struggled defensively this season. The Tigers are outside of the top 200 in scoring defense and shooting defense and that doesn’t bode well in this game. Gonzaga is one of the more efficient teams in the country. The Bulldogs have an inside-outside game that is second to none, and they should be favored big here. Even though it’s a lot of chalk, swallow it and back Gonzaga to win here.
College Basketball Odds: Gonzaga 88, Pacific 65
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