The San Francisco Dons host the Saint Mary’s Gaels on Tuesday night in a West Coast college basketball matchup. The game tips off at 11:00 p.m. ET in San Francisco, California.
The Gaels are listed as 6.5-point favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook, with the total set at O/U 140.5 points. Below is my full preview, prediction and pick for this West Coast Conference college basketball matchup.
San Francisco vs. Saint Mary’s prediction, preview
Saint Mary’s sits atop the West Coast Conference early on in conference play. The Gaels are 16-2 on the season, with losses to No. 10 Vanderbilt and by one point to Boise State. Saint Mary’s is 5-0 so far in WCC play and is asserting itself atop the conference. The real test for the Gaels, as always, will come when they face Gonzaga in two weeks. For now, they hope to keep rolling through WCC competition. Paulius Murauskas has emerged as a star for the Gaels, averaging 19.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. Saint Mary’s is a well-coached unit that always plays its brand of basketball. The Gaels rank 289th in the nation in adjusted pace, playing methodical half-court offense and preventing transition opportunities for opponents. That makes them hard to beat for teams with inferior talent, which is the rest of the conference outside of Gonzaga.
San Francisco had a great 2024-25 season, nearly making the NCAA Tournament and finishing third in the conference. It has not been as bright a start to this season for the Dons. They took a couple of bad out-of-conference losses, in addition to two WCC losses to Oregon State and Loyola Marymount. The Dons are one of the worst shooting teams in the conference, ranking 10th out of 12 teams in field-goal percentage. They have been better on the defensive side of the ball, ranking fourth in the conference in opponent points per game and 91st nationally in defensive rating.
San Francisco vs. Saint Mary’s pick
My best bet for this game is on the under 140.5 points. Saint Mary’s plays great team defense, leading the WCC in opponent scoring. It is giving up just 64.9 points per game this season. The Dons have also been much better on the defensive side of the court than they have been offensively. These are the top two teams in the WCC in made three-point field goals allowed per game. The Gaels are one of the slowest-paced teams in the nation, but San Francisco is even slower. The Dons rank 302nd in the nation in adjusted tempo. This should be a slow game with both teams taking away the three-point shot and forcing their opponent to work hard for open looks. That should lead to this game finishing under the listed total.
