Who’s Playing
Saint Mary’s Gaels @ Wash. State Cougars
Current Records: Saint Mary’s 17-3, Wash. State 15-6
How To Watch
What to Know
We’ve got another exciting West Coast matchup on schedule as the Saint Mary’s Gaels and the Wash. State Cougars are set to tip at 8:00 p.m. ET on Saturday at Wallis Beasley Performing Arts Coliseum. The Gaels are looking to tack on another W to their 13-game streak on the road dating back to last season.
Last Thursday, Saint Mary’s got the win against San Fran. by a conclusive 71-51. The Gaels have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won nine contests by 19 points or more this season.
Saint Mary’s success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Paulius Murauskas led the charge by going 10 for 14 en route to 24 points plus five rebounds. The dominant performance also gave Murauskas a new career-high in field goal percentage (71.4%). Another player making a difference was Mitchell Saxen, who went 6 for 8 en route to 14 points plus five assists and two steals.
Saint Mary’s was working as a unit and finished the game with 19 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as San Fran. only posted nine.
Meanwhile, Wash. State took a serious blow against Santa Clara on Thursday, falling 93-65. The over/under was set at 158.5 points, so nice work oddsmakers; you were right on the money.
LeJuan Watts put forth a good effort for the losing side as he dropped a triple-double on 20 points, 11 rebounds, and ten assists. He has become a key player for Wash. State: the team is 14-4 when he posts at least eight assists, but 1-2 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Ethan Price, who posted 16 points plus two blocks.
Saint Mary’s is on a roll lately: they’ve won eight of their last nine matches, which provided a nice bump to their 17-3 record this season. As for Wash. State, their defeat dropped their record down to 15-6.
Saturday’s matchup is shaping up to be a scrappy game: Saint Mary’s hasn’t given up the ball easily this season, having only averaged 9.8 turnovers per game. It’s a different story for Wash. State, though, as they’ve been averaging 15.3. Given Saint Mary’s sizable advantage in that area, Wash. State will need to find a way to close that gap.
Looking forward, Saint Mary’s is the favorite in this one, as the experts expect to see them win by six points. This contest will be their 11th straight as the favorites (so far over this stretch they are 6-4 against the spread).
Odds
Saint Mary’s is a solid 6-point favorite against Wash. State, according to the latest college basketball odds.
The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Gaels as a 5.5-point favorite.
The over/under is 141.5 points.
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Series History
Wash. State won the only game these two teams have played in the last 8 years.
- Nov 24, 2017 – Wash. State 84 vs. Saint Mary’s 79