Game: (671) St. Mary’s Gaels @ (672) Wisconsin Badgers
Time: Tues. 11/05 9:00 PM EST at The Pentagon, Sioux Falls, SD
Spread: St. Marys -4 (-110) ML: -185/+160 Total: 129 at 5Dimes
Tools: Public Consensus | View Matchups | Bet This Game
Saint Mary’s comes into this season with high expectations. They beat Gonzaga in the WCC conference tournament finals last year and have made the NCAA Tournament two of the last three years. They’ve also won 20 or more games for the past dozen seasons. The Saint Mary’s Gaels will be looking to continue their success from the 2018-2019 season as they went 22-12 an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Saint Mary’s Gaels will return their leading scorer and rebounder from a season ago as senior guard Jordan Ford (21.1 PPG) and junior forward Malik Fitts (15.2 PPG, 7.6 RPG) return to the starting lineup. The Gaels brought in grad transfer Aaron Menzies who averaged 11.3 PPG and 8.9 RPG with Seattle last season.
The Gaels were average at scoring the basketball during the 2018-2019 season as they scored an average of 72.4 PPG which ranked 173rd in the country. The Saint Mary’s Gaels were one of the best teams in college basketball at keeping their opponents off the scoreboard last season as they held them to an average of 64.3 PPG which ranked 26th in the country.
The Wisconsin Badgers will be looking to continue their success from the 2018-2019 season as they went 23-11 with an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Wisconsin Badgers will have to replace one of the top players in the country as Ethan Happ graduated after averaging 17.3 PPG, 10.1 RPG, and 4.5 APG last season. Wisconsin is expecting growth out of their backcourt as junior guards Trice and Davidson combined for 22.1 PPG last year.
The Badgers will be playing this game on a neutral site and they need to try and get a statement win. They already have four teams ranked in the conference and Wisconsin lost some of their key scorers in the offseason. To get by the Gaels, they need to start shooting better at the foul line. Last year, they were one of the worst teams in free throws and they hardly got to the free-throw line. Also, with Happ gone, they need to find out which player will lead the team in scoring. Brad Davison is a dynamic and physical scorer, who might be able to be productive.
The Gaels are the more efficient offensive team, as they finished 91st in scoring last season, while the Badgers were 131st. Wisconsin’s defensive numbers were almost even with their offensive numbers ranking, as they finished 134th in defense. St. Mary’s was 178th in defense, but these numbers did get better in the second half of last season. The Gaels have more depth scoring and are just a bit better from the three-point line.