Who’s Playing
San Fran. Dons @ Saint Mary’s Gaels
Current Records: San Fran. 16-5, Saint Mary’s 16-3
How To Watch
What to Know
San Fran. is 0-10 against Saint Mary’s since February of 2019 but things could change on Thursday. Both will face off in a West Coast battle at 9:00 p.m. ET at University Credit Union Pavilion. The Dons are strutting in with some offensive muscle as they’ve averaged 77 points per game this season.
Last Saturday, San Fran. earned an 81-70 victory over Oregon State. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Dons.
San Fran. got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Malik Thomas out in front who went 8 for 11 en route to 24 points. Tyrone Riley IV was another key player, scoring 15 points along with two blocks.
Even though they won, San Fran. struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only four offensive rebounds. That’s the fewest offensive rebounds they’ve posted since back in March of 2024.
Meanwhile, Saint Mary’s entered their tilt with Pepperdine on Saturday with five consecutive wins but they’ll enter their next game with six. They were the clear victor by a 74-50 margin over the Waves. The Gaels have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight matchups by 19 points or more this season.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Saint Mary’s to victory, but perhaps none more so than Mitchell Saxen, who went 5 for 8 en route to 13 points plus six rebounds. Another player making a difference was Jordan Ross, who went 5 for 8 en route to 13 points plus five rebounds.
San Fran. pushed their record up to 16-5 with the victory, which was their 12th straight at home. As for Saint Mary’s, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they’ve won seven of their last eight contests, which provided a nice bump to their 16-3 record this season.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as the two teams are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. San Fran. hasn’t had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 77 points per game. However, it’s not like Saint Mary’s struggles in that department as they’ve been averaging 76.8. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
While fans of San Fran. and Saint Mary’s were happy after their last outing, their bettors probably weren’t as neither team covered. Looking forward, Saint Mary’s is the favorite in this one, as the experts expect to see them win by 10.5 points. This contest will be their tenth straight as the favorites (so far over this stretch they are 5-4 against the spread).
Odds
Saint Mary’s is a big 10.5-point favorite against San Fran., according to the latest college basketball odds.
The line on this game has moved quite a bit since it opened, as it started out with the Gaels as a 7.5-point favorite.
The over/under is 136 points.
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Series History
Saint Mary’s has won all of the games they’ve played against San Fran. in the last 6 years.
- Feb 20, 2024 – Saint Mary’s 70 vs. San Fran. 66
- Jan 20, 2024 – Saint Mary’s 77 vs. San Fran. 60
- Feb 02, 2023 – Saint Mary’s 68 vs. San Fran. 59
- Jan 14, 2023 – Saint Mary’s 78 vs. San Fran. 61
- Feb 17, 2022 – Saint Mary’s 69 vs. San Fran. 64
- Jan 27, 2022 – Saint Mary’s 72 vs. San Fran. 70
- Jan 23, 2021 – Saint Mary’s 67 vs. San Fran. 63
- Jan 23, 2020 – Saint Mary’s 58 vs. San Fran. 48
- Jan 02, 2020 – Saint Mary’s 69 vs. San Fran. 58
- Feb 02, 2019 – Saint Mary’s 86 vs. San Fran. 80
