St. Mary's Gaels vs Gonzaga Bulldogs Prediction, 1/31/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: St. Mary's Gaels vs Gonzaga Bulldogs

Date: Saturday, January 31, 2026

Location: McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, WA

TV: ESPN

The St. Mary's Gaels (19-3) are headed to McCarthey Athletic Center on Saturday where they will try to defeat the Gonzaga Bulldogs (21-1).

The St. Mary's Gaels faced Portland and took home the win by a score of 75-69 in their last contest. St. Mary's ended having earned a 45.5% FG percentage (25 of 55) and knocked down 9 of their 21 3-point attempts. At the charity stripe, the Gaels converted 16 of their 18 attempts for a rate of 88.9%. Regarding rebounding, they earned 34 with 9 of them being on the offensive end. They also recorded 17 dimes for the matchup in addition to forcing the other team into 9 turnovers and earning 2 steals. When discussing defense, St. Mary's let their opponent shoot 43.6% from the field on 24 out of 55 shooting. Portland recorded 13 dimes and had 7 steals in the game. Moreover, Portland grabbed 25 rebounds (6 offensive, 19 defensive), but couldn't earn a rejection. Portland finished the contest at 88.2% at the charity stripe by making 15 of their 17 shots. They also converted 6 out of their 17 tries from beyond the perimeter. When discussing personal fouls, the Gaels ended up finishing with 17 while Portland racked up 16 personal fouls.

Paulius Murauskas is someone who was a factor in this game. He walked away from this one shooting 38.9% from the field and also recorded 2 dimes. He played for 35 mins played and also collected 9 rebounds. He accounted for 24 points on 7 of 18 shooting.

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St. Mary's enters this game with a record of 19-3 on the year. They are giving up possession 11.2 times per game and as a group they commit 15.7 fouls per game. As a team, St. Mary's is pulling down 39.6 rebounds per contest and has tallied 338 assists on the year, which is 74th in college hoops in terms of passing the ball. The Gaels are hitting 37.6% on shots from distance (167 of 444) and 81.0% from the charity stripe. They are averaging 78.6 points per outing (134th in D-1) while shooting 46.6% from the field.

Defensively, the Gaels are forcing their opponents into 10.5 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 18.8 personal fouls. They are ranked 166th in college hoops in giving up assists with 274 relinquished so far this year. The Gaels defensively are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 40.5% (518 of 1,280) and they relinquish 28.6 boards per contest as a squad. They are conceding 29.7% on shots from beyond the perimeter while they are 12th in college hoops in PPG allowed (64.5).

When they last stepped on the court, the Gonzaga Bulldogs went home victorious with a score of 68-66 when they played San Francisco. Concerning rebounding, Gonzaga permitted San Francisco to get 37 overall (7 on the offensive side). They finished shooting 50.0% from beyond the perimeter by going 14 of 28 and finished the contest at 8 of 13 at the free throw line (61.5%). The Bulldogs permitted San Francisco to make 22 out of 55 tries from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 40.0% for this contest. When the final whistle was blown, the Bulldogs shot 27 for 61 from the floor which had them at 44.3%. When discussing shooting from distance, Gonzaga made 3 out of their 18 tries (16.7%). They were able to make 11 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 50.0%. San Francisco was called for 18 personal fouls in this contest which took the Bulldogs to the charity stripe for 22 attempts. They also gave up possession of the ball 7 times, while recording 11 steals in the game. The Bulldogs were able to corral 20 defensive rebounds and 9 offensive rebounds for a total of 29 for this game.

Jalen Warley pitched in for the Bulldogs for the matchup. He knocked down 7 of 10 for the game for a rate of 70.0%, and earned 4 rebounds. He accumulated 19 points in his 38 mins on the court and had 2 assists for the contest.

Gonzaga has a mark of 21-1 so far this year. The Bulldogs are responsible for committing 17.6 fouls per contest while shooting 69.0% from the charity stripe. They are earning an assist 18.5 times per contest (13th in the country) and they turn it over 10.3 times per contest. Gonzaga has earned 1,955 pts this season (88.9 per contest) and they grab 42.6 boards per game. As an offensive team, the Bulldogs are hitting on 51.7% from the floor, which is ranked 4th in the nation.

The Gonzaga defense allows 30.0% on 3-point shots (174 of 580) and opponents are making 68.2% of their free throw attempts. They concede 12.2 dimes and 32.1 boards every game, which has them ranked 89th and 54th in the nation. The Bulldogs on the defensive side of the court are 28th in college in points per game surrendered with 66.5. They have forced 15.0 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 39.0% from the floor (13th in college).

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take St. Mary's

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