Gonzaga vs. Portland Pick
Will No. 4 Gonzaga stay undefeated and pick up a sizable win when it goes on the road to face Portland tonight at 8PM ET?
According to oddsmakers at BetDSI, Gonzaga is favored on the road tonight, as the Bulldogs are getting odds of -23.5 points against Portland. The over/under total for the game is listed at 142.5 points. Gonzaga has won seven straight in this series, but Portland is 5-2-1 against the spread in the last eight against the Zags.
Gonzaga is a perfect 17-0 on the season and 7-0 in the West Coast Conference following a 73-52 win over Portland at home this weekend. The Bulldogs also have covered the spread in nine of their last 10 to get to 13-3 against the spread this season. Zaga averages 85.1 points per game on offense while holding opponents to just 62.9 per game. Nigel Williams-Gross is the leading scorer for Zaga with 15 points and 4.7 assists per game. However, he is questionable for today’s game with an ankle injury. Przemek Karnowski is adding 12.9 points and 5.6 rebounds per game this season.
Portland has lost five straight to drop to 9-10 overall and 2-5 in the West Coast Conference. The Pilots are just 7-8-2 against the spread, but did cover in this weekend’s meeting with Gonzaga. Portland averages just 69.1 points per game on offense while allowing 74.2 points per contest on defense. Alec Wintering, the team’s leading scorer with 19.5 points and 5.6 assists per game, is out for the season with a knee injury. Jazz Johnson is now the team leader with 16.6 points per game.
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The loss of Wintering hurts Portland, but he wasn’t available this weekend in the loss to Gonzaga, and the Pilots managed to stay within 24 points. Williams-Gross is a little banged up for the Bulldogs, so Gonzaga may not quite have the offensive production to win by such a large margin on the road. Gonzaga is a great team, but I don’t like giving up that many points to a home team.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL DAILY PREDICTION: PORTLAND +23.5