St. Mary's Gaels vs Washington State Cougars Prediction, 2/21/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: St. Mary's Gaels vs Washington State Cougars

Date: Saturday, February 21, 2026

Location: Beasley Coliseum in Pullman, WA

TV: ESPN2

The Washington State Cougars (12-16) are hosting the St. Mary's Gaels (24-4) at Beasley Coliseum on Saturday.

The St. Mary's Gaels faced off with Seattle and walked away with a win by a score of 72-70 in their last contest. In regard to personal fouls, the Gaels ended up walking away with 20 and Seattle racked up 21 personal fouls. They also made 5 out of their 20 tries from downtown. Seattle finished 68.2% at the charity stripe by making 15 of 22 tries. On top of that, Seattle collected 25 rebounds (3 offensive, 22 defensive), but wasn't able to record a block. Seattle earned 7 assists and had 5 steals for this contest. In reference to defending, St. Mary's allowed their opponent to shoot 45.5% from the floor on 25 out of 55 shooting. They also dished out 7 dimes in this game as well as forcing 11 turnovers and having 4 steals. In regard to getting rebounds, they earned 35 with 8 of them being of the offensive variety. At the charity stripe, the Gaels converted 21 of their 27 attempts for a rate of 77.8%. St. Mary's finished having earned a 44.4% field goal percentage (24 out of 54) and made 3 out of their 12 shots from downtown.

Mikey Lewis is a guy who played a role in the matchup. He shot 50.0% from the floor but wasn't able to get an assist. He played for 29 mins played and pulled down 5 boards. He ended up walking away with 22 points on 8 out of 16 shooting.

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St. Mary's will take the court with a win-loss mark of 24-4 for the campaign. They turn the ball over 10.9 times per game and as a unit they are committing 15.8 fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, St. Mary's is pulling in 40.0 rebounds per game and has totaled 437 assists for the campaign, which is 56th in the country in terms of passing the rock. The Gaels are hitting 38.1% on 3-pointers (217 of 570) and 80.6% from the free throw line. They average 78.3 pts per game (131st in the nation) while going 46.2% from the field.

On defense, the Gaels are able to force 10.6 turnovers per contest while drawing 18.4 fouls. They currently rank 178th in college in allowing assists with 356 relinquished this season. The Gaels are allowing a shooting percentage of 40.2% (654 of 1,627) and they relinquish 29.3 boards per contest as a unit. They concede 30.1% on shots from downtown and they rank 8th in college in points per game allowed (64.2).

The last time they took the hardwood, the Washington State Cougars walked away with a victory by a final of 87-70 when they played Pacific. When talking about attacking the glass, Washington State allowed Pacific to snag 31 in all (10 on the offensive glass). They finished shooting 38.1% from three-point range by shooting 8 out of 21 and finished the contest at 8 out of 11 from the charity stripe (72.7%). The Cougars allowed Pacific to convert 27 out of their 63 attempts from the field which left them shooting 42.9% for the matchup. When all was said and done, the Cougars went 34 for 60 from the field which had them shooting 56.7%. With respect to shots from downtown, Washington State converted 14 of their 28 tries (50.0%). They were able to bury 5 of those for a rate of 62.5%. Pacific was called for 14 fouls for the contest which took the Cougars to the free throw line for a total of 8 attempts. They also gave up possession 7 times, while recording 4 steals in this contest. The Cougars collected 28 defensive boards and 6 offensive rebounds for a total of 34 in the game.

Rihards Vavers was important for the Cougars for the game. He racked up 21 points in his 33 mins on the court and added 2 assists in this game. He made 8 of 12 for the game for a rate of 66.7%, and had 4 rebounds.

Washington State has a mark of 12-16 on the campaign. The Cougars commit 18.0 fouls per contest and they hit 73.7% from the charity stripe. They are assisting teammates 13.5 times per game (216th in the country) and they are turning it over 13.2 times per game. Washington State has 2,155 pts for the season (77.0 per contest) and they grab 34.4 boards per game. When it comes to executing on offense, the Cougars are hitting on 47.5% from the floor, which is ranked 52nd in the country.

The Cougars on the defensive side of the court are 281st in college hoops in points per game surrendered with 77.4. They are able to force 10.1 turnovers on a nightly basis and have let teams shoot 46.4% from the floor (300th in Division 1). The Washington State defense concedes 35.4% on 3-pointers (221 of 624) and their opposition makes 73.5% of their foul shots. They allow 13.3 assists and 31.5 boards per game, which is 173rd and 38th in those categories on the defensive end.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take St. Mary's

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