NCAA Basketball Gonzaga vs. Washington St.
It doesn’t hold the mystique last years meeting in Spokane offered up but rest assured, tonight’s online betting match-up between the 4th ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs (6-0, 4-1 ATS) and Washington State Cougars (6-2, 1-4 ATS) should be a good one.
Gonzaga is fresh off the first ever basketball game held in the brand new Lucas Oil Stadium, a future Final 4 venue, and got the best of an undermanned and inexperienced Indiana squad. The 16-point victory allowed Bulldog fans to puff out their chests while proclaiming the Zags to be the #1 team in the land, but college basketball sportsbettors came away unimpressed with the effort of head coach Mark Few’s club; especially since Indiana lost by 25, 26, and 38 to Wake Forest, St. Joe’s, and Notre Dame already this season.
The 70-54 win saw the Bulldogs fail to cover the 22.5-point neutral court spread, and the combined 124 points fell 17.5-points under the ‘total’ of 141 per the closing NCAA basketball odds.
The loss was Gonzaga’s first NCAA pointspread defeat of the season. It now sits 4-1 ATS throughout its first six games of the season. Senior forward Josh Heytvelt leads the team in scoring averaging 15.3 PPG, and he pulls down an average of 6.5 rebounds per contest. Super sophomore Austin Daye has contributed with close to 12 PPG and has been solid on the glass, ripping down an average of 6.3 rebounds per game. And then there’s the dynamic presence of senior guard Jeremy Pargo who could go off for 30 one night and then look to get his team involved the next night by dishing out 10 assists.
All in all, these guys are members of the 32nd ranked offensive attack at the collegiate level averaging 80 points per game. This would leave many to believe the ‘over’ has been a lucrative sports betting position to take thus far, but that deduction couldn’t be further from the truth. The Zags have allowed their six opponents a paltry 59.3 PPG, which in turn has seen the ‘under’ cash in all five of their lined games. Sure, two games went ‘under’ by the slimmest of margins, but in those games, Gonzaga’s defense limited potent offensive teams in Tennessee and Oklahoma State to 74 and 71 points respectively. Both of those clubs have averaged over 80 PPG on the young season.
A number of key players didn’t return for the Cougars in 2008, and it’s shown. Head coach Tony Bennett’s young team lost both of its games against two solid programs in Pittsburg and Baylor, the latter being a 58-52 home decision to the Bears as three-point home favorites its last time out in the PAC 10/Big 12 Hardwood Series.
The defense did a tremendous job in limiting the Bears potent attack that averaged 80+ PPG coming into the game, but once again, the offense stunk out loud. The score was tied at 41 with better than 10 minutes left, but Wazzou went without a FG scored for the better part of the next seven minutes.
Daven Harmeling and Aron Baynes each scored 14 points for WSU, which shot just 37 percent from the field. The Cougars also struggled from the foul line, making just 12 of 19 attempts (63%), while Baylor hit 21 of its 25 attempts from the charity stripe.
The Cougars 286th ranked offensive attack (61.5 PPG) will have their hands full scoring against the Bulldogs defense. If they have a chance in this one their top ranked defense that’s allowed a mere 45.3 points per contest will have to help get the offense in transition by forcing turnovers and being physical.
Washington State has been deemed the underdog in this game. They haven’t been dogged at home to anyone not named UCLA or Arizona over the last two seasons. Gonzaga currently sits as a 4.5-point road favorite with a game ‘total’ of 119.5 points.
