The Vanderbilt Commodores face off against the Saint Mary’s Gaels in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament on Friday afternoon. The Commodores enter this matchup on a 3 game losing streak and finished the regular season with a 20-12 record. The Gaels lost in the WCC championship game and finished the season with a 28-5 record. They are currently 4.5 point favorites with this Vanderbilt vs. Saint Mary’s matchup set to tip off at 3:15 p.m. ET.
Game Matchup & Betting Odds
Vanderbilt Commodores (+4.5) at Saint Mary’s Gaels (-4.5) o/u 135.5
3:15 p.m. ET, Friday, March 21, 2025
Rocket arena, Cleveland, OH
TV: truTV
Public Betting: Public Bettors Leaning Gaels
As of this writing, our CBB Public Betting page shows that 58% of bets are on Saint Mary’s. That said, this page is updated frequently so make sure that you click on the link provided so that you’re getting the most updated information.
Vanderbilt Commodores
In Vanderbilt’s last 9 games of the season, they lost 3 straight games to ranked teams, beat 3 straight ranked teams, and lost 3 straight games to unranked teams. Their latest was a 79-72 loss to Texas in the first round of the SEC Tournament. Jason Edwards led the team in that matchup with 20 points. Tyler Nickel followed him up with 14 points but he was 1-7 from 3 point land. The Commodores finished 15.8% from three.
Saint Mary’s Gaels
The Gaels finished conference play with a 17-1 record but they fell in the championship game 58-51 to Gonzaga. Mitchell Saxen led the team with 20 points on 8 of 13 shooting from the field. Augustus Marciulionis was the only other player to hit double digits with 12 points. The Gaels turned the ball over 18 times while only forcing 4 on Gonzaga. The Gaels have struggled to get past the second round of the tournament in their last 7 appearances. Last season was a first round exit after losing to Grand Canyon.
Vanderbilt vs. Saint Mary’s Betting Trends
Vanderbilt is 0-3 ATS in their last 3 games
The OVER is 4-1 in Vanderbilt’s last 5 games
Saint Mary’s is 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games
The UNDER is 4-1 in Saint Mary’s last 5 games
Vanderbilt vs. Saint Mary’s Prediction:
I’m going to take a shot on the first half under 63.5 in this matchup on Friday afternoon. Saint Mary’s plays at one of the slowest paces in the entire country. On top of that they rank 4th in the country in points per game allowed giving up just 61.4 points per game. They played Gonzaga, who is the 2nd highest scoring team in the country, 3 times this season, and each game went under the full game total. The latest being 58-51 in the conference championship. The Gaels haven’t played since March 11th, and the Commodores haven’t played since March 12th. So both teams haven’t played in a pretty decent amount of time. Drake and Missouri is a good comparison to these two teams. That first half total ended at 53 on Thursday night. Taking the first half eliminates the chance that late game fouls and free throws pushes the game over. I think both teams start off very slow and the first half under hits.
Vanderbilt vs. Saint Mary’s Prediction: 1st Half Under 63.5