NCAA Basketball: Gonzaga vs. Santa Clara Betting Odds & Pick: January 28th 2010

Gonzaga Bulldogs vs. Santa Clara Broncos
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In the final game of the Thursday night NCAA basketball betting slate, the Gonzaga Bulldogs (16-3, 9-6-1 ATS) will invade the Leavey Center where they will clash with the Santa Clara Broncos (9-13, 7-10 ATS). The Zags have failed to cover back-to-back conference games, but they still picked up their eighth straight SU victory on Saturday in an 85-69 triumph over Loyola-Marymount. Santa Clara’s recent losing skid stopped on Saturday at San Francisco with a 66-65 victory.

The Zags are content to try to run you off the court offensively, and that’s surely the tactic that they’ll take against the Broncos on Thursday night. Save for a 68-50 win against the Toreros on January 16th, Gonzaga has scored at least 81 points in each of its L/7 games. It has put at least 74 points on the board in a whopping 15 games this season. G Matt Bouldin and F Elias Harris pace the team, as Bouldin is averaging 16.4 points per game, while Harris is currently at 16.1 points and 8.2 boards per contest. Of the starting five for HC Mark Few, four are at least 6′5″, and that height advantage has been parlayed into a +6.2 rebounding advantage per game.

It’s hard to see how a team that ranks 257th in offense and 222nd in defense is going to successfully be able to stand tall with the #8 team in the country, but that’s the task awaiting Santa Clara on Thursday night. The Broncos have been awful in conference play, recording just the one victory against San Francisco. However, it’s pretty clear that this is the game that everyone in the conference waits for, and they’ll surely be giving Gonzaga their best fight. Without the services of leading scorer, G Kevin Foster, for the remainder of the season, F Marc Trasolini will have to excel in the scoring department. He is averaging 14.2 points per clash.

Santa Clara hasn’t beaten Gonzaga SU in its L/7 tries, and the teams have alternated the ATS proceedings each of the L/10 games. The Zags won the most recent college basketball wagering affair, knocking the Broncos off 94-59 in last season’s WCC Tournament to easily cover the 14.5-point sports betting line.

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