Boise State vs. Grand Canyon College Basketball prediction, preview
Boise will head to Phoenix on Friday night to face a Grand Canyon program that’s developing an exciting home court. The Antelopes are 9-2 at home this season, and have won eight of 11 games overall entering Friday. GCU is coming off a road loss to Nevada on Tuesday night as a short road underdog, so the ‘Lopes should head back to campus hungry for a bounce-back win on Friday night on the national stage.
Prior to going on the road, the cream of the crop in the Mountain West tried to come to Phoenix and knock off GCU. Both Utah State and San Diego State went off as the favorites in games played at Grand Canyon, and both wound up losing outright. The ‘Lopes are extremely capable of rising to the occasion at home, and Friday represents a great opportunity against the Broncos.
Boise State has been wildly inconsistent this season. The Broncos are currently riding a four-game winning streak into this matchup, but were favored by double digits in two of those games. Prior to the winning streak, Boise was on a four-game losing streak — which included a 17-point home loss to this ‘Lopes team as an 8.5-point favorite. The rollercoaster ride for the Broncos goes all the way back to the season opener, when they lost to a Division 2 school in Hawaii Pacific.
I cannot put my faith in Boise, particularly in a tough road environment against a team we’ve already seen dominate this matchup. The ‘Lopes have been tenacious on the defensive side of the ball all season, ranking 19th on defense on KenPom. We’ve seen them limit Iowa to 59 points earlier in the season, and completely shutdown the Broncos in the first meeting.
I think we see a spectacular defensive performance out of GCU in front of a rowdy Friday night home crowd. The ‘Lopes are 9-2 when favored this season, and I’ll bet on that improving to 10-2 against the Broncos.
CBB Pick: Grand Canyon Moneyline (-122)
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