An underrated WCC matchup goes down Saturday night when Santa Clara travels to face San Francisco.
San Francisco was on the wrong end of a 23-point collapse on Thursday night at the hands of St. Mary's while Santa Clara won in the final seconds as home underdogs to BYU. Now, they meet as two teams trending in opposite directions.
The Dons look to get back off the mat after a tough, emotional loss, and are laying a big number against Santa Clara, but can they cover?
Let's answer the question by first looking odds from WynnBET Sportsbook.
Santa Clara vs. San Francisco Odds, Spread and Total
Spread:
- Santa Clara: +8 (-110)
- San Francisco: -8 (-110)
Moneyline:
- Santa Clara: +270
- San Francisco: -350
Total: 149 (Over -110/Under -110)
Santa Clara vs. San Francisco Prediction and Pick
Santa Clara's high octane offense can cause some issues against San Francisco, as they are capable of going five out and moving the San Francisco bigs out along the perimeter, opening up driving lanes for PJ Pipes.
The Broncos are 27th in the country in effective field goal percentage and can cause issues for USF big man Yauhen Massalski on defense. The Dons are elite at running teams off the three-point line, allowing a bottom 10 three-point percentage to opponents and also are great at defending the rim, top 30 in the country. However, Santa Clara can combat that with their mid-range offense, they are top third nationally in that metric, per Haslemmetrics.
Of course, banking on the mid-range may not sound like an effective strategy on the road, but given the Dons 67% free throw shooting and the possibility of an emotional letdown following a blown lead, I'm siding with Santa Clara staying close.
PICK: Santa Clara +8, play to +7
All of Reed's college basketball plays can be tracked here, his best bets column for college basketball is 27-36-3 for -11.5 units.