NCAA Hoops West Coast Battle – San Diego at San Francisco
BetUS NCAA Basketball Sports Betting Odds: SAN DIEGO -1.5
Here are some of the NCAA basketball sports betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* SD has won four of its last five games SU
* SD has covered three of its last four games * SD has played six of its last nine games UNDER the total
* SF has lost four of its last six games SU
* SF has covered five of its last eight games
* SF has won its last five home games SU
* SF has played four of its last five games OVER the total
Also…
* SD has won 17 of the last 25 meetings SU
* Four of the last five meetings have gone OVER the total
* SD has covered seven of the last nine meetings as the road team
* Five of the last six meetings in San Francisco have gone OVER the total
* SF has made more three-pointers in four of the last six meetings
The loss of Brendan Johnson was a tough pill for San Diego to take. The senior point guard was a key figure in San Diego’s drive to the West Coast Conference title and NCAA tournament win over Connecticut, and the acknowledged team leader. After suffering an Achilles tendon injury against San Diego State he was gone for the year.
Trumaine Johnson was under suspension for the first eight games of the season and when Brendan Johnson went down, Grier couldn’t wait for him to get into the lineup. Trumaine has now played three games for San Diego, averaging 15 points, shooting over 51% and helping the team to wins over Mississippi State (in overtime) and Marshall. With a December 13 victory over Oregon, which along with the Mississippi State win happened on the road, might mean the Toreros may finally have started to make some strides.
We think so, especially since this team seems to have found a point guard in Devin Ginty, who’s had 17 assists and just four turnovers in the six games he’s started. Ginty has gone 121 straight minutes over his last four games without coughing the ball up. Over the last seven games, San Diego has lost three games by a total of ten points and won the other four. They have shot 50% or better in three of the last four.
San Francisco hasn’t been a factor in college basketball in a while – since the days of Bill Russell and K.C. Jones, really. Oh alright, since the days of Bill Cartwright. Rex Walters was brought in from Florida Atlantic to take over the program, which had turned to Eddie Sutton last season after Jessie Evans was axed.
The Dons don’t regularly draw any more than 2000 fans, so the atmosphere won’t be intimidating, and this by far their most challenging home contest yet. This is a more competitive team than last year, as Dior Lawhorn, the work horse (20.3 ppg, 49% FG’s) is joined by some capable three-point shooters, But this is a team that largely relies on youngsters, and tests like this often become learning experiences.
We appreciate the job Walters is doing, but San Diego is more accomplished at the moment. We like the momentum they’re building with Trumaine and Ginty, and will lay 1.5 points in the BetUS NCAA college basketball sports betting odds.
