San Diego State vs. Saint Mary's Prediction and Odds for Saturday, December 10th (Back Gaels as Small Underdogs)
By Reed Wallach
Two of the best mid-majors in the country match up in Phoenix, Arizona for a Saturday afternoon matchup.
The St. Mary's Gaels couldn't pull an upset over Houston last week, but will look to bolster their non conference resume against an elite defense in San Diego State. The Aztecs have wins over Ohio State and Stanford this season and will look to take home another impressive win on a neutral court.
Here are the odds for this matchup between two of the best teams in the mid major ranks:
San Diego State vs. St. Mary's Odds, Spread and Total
San Diego State vs. St. Mary's Prediction and Pick
San Diego State scored a win over the Gaels last season, one that saw St. Mary's head coach Randy Bennett skip his post game press conference after being clearly frustrated. I'll back them to bounce back with a win here on a neutral floor given some of the issues we have seen from this San Diego State offense of late.
The Aztecs are struggling from the perimeter and the the Gaels compact defense is as good as there is in the country, top 10 in two-point percentage allowed and fifth in defensive rebounding rate. If San Diego State can't match the efficient Gaels offense that is strong from the perimeter (37% from three), I believe that this can be a slog for SDSU.
San Diego State is shooting 29% form the perimeter and struggling to crash the glass well, 281st in offensive rebounding rate, which we noted above will be a problem against a strong rebounding group in St. Mary's.
Right now, St. Mary's is the better team and I'll take them to score an impressive win in Phoenix.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.