Steve Merril

NCAA-B | Jan 14
Gonzaga vs. Saint Marys CA Saint Marys CA
-3˝-110 at BetUS

St. Mary’s was robbed in not making the NCAA tournament last season. And in trying to avoid a repeat of that this year, tonight’s game is of utmost importance for the Gaels. A signature win over their in-conference rival will be a major coup, and the team knows how big this game is for their season.

"We have to win one of the two regular season games just to be considered for the tournament. I firmly believe that," said senior forward Ben Allen. "We all know the importance of this game, and we all know this is one we need to get. It's not going to be any easier at their place, so we know this one will be the easiest of the two. We need to put our foot down and play like we know we can play and get the job done."

There’s no question that St. Mary’s will ready to fire their best effort tonight, but beating Gonzaga is a lot easier said than done. The Zags are 15-2 so far this year with wins over Wisconsin, Cincinnati, and Illinois. They also have just a 4-point loss to a Michigan St team that played in the national championship game last year and could very well return there again this year.

Gonzaga has also owned this series winning 8 of the last 10 including the last 4. However, the games have been much more competitive on St. Mary’s home floor; Gonzaga only won by a bucket last year. But what keeps this from being a stronger selection is simply the pointspread. St. Mary’s has only been favored once over the last ten meetings, and their two wins over Gonzaga only came by 5 and 4 points in overtime.