Saint Mary's Gaels vs Loyola Marymount Lions: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 2/9/2023

Time: 10 p.m. ET

Venue: Garden Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA

Where to watch: TBD

DraftKings: Saint Mary's -8

FanDuel: Saint Mary's -8.5

BetMGM: Saint Mary's -8.5

Caesars: NL

No. 15 Saint Mary's: 21-4 (10-0 WCC)

Loyola Marymount: 16-9 (6-5 WCC)

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The Saint Mary’s Gaels, ladies and gentlemen — after years of living in the shadow that is Gonzaga — for the time being are the frontrunners in the WCC and its their conference to lose at this point. After what could be a program-defining win for the near future, the Gaels will now try to keep things rolling when they visit the Loyola Marymount Lions on Thursday.

 

The No. 15 Gaels re-wrote the narrative on the West Coast Conference last Saturday with the 78-70 overtime win over the Gonzaga Bulldogs, and there has never been a better time than to be a Saint Mary’s fan or alumni because y’all beat Gonzaga and are ranked higher than them for once. And I get while it’s the second straight season they won, this time feels different. It’s different because freshman guard Aidan Mahaney is leading the way. Mahaney had 18 points and had a stretch of which he scored or assisted on 19 of 21 points in regulation to force overtime.

 

“We actually were hoping that they weren’t going to stay on the court for that reason,” Mahaney said. “We are making this a thing now where we want to be able to rival with them every time. This isn’t an upset or anything like that. We’re not going to just talk about it. We’re going to put in the work.”

 

Mitchell Saxen had a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Alex Ducas had 14 points of his own. How did Saint Mary’s win while shooting 45.9 percent from the floor and 6 of 24 from 3-point range? Good question, because I surely don’t know.

 

Gonzaga was held to 4 of 11 from 3-point range, which might explain everything. But the fact is there has never been a greater time for the Gaels to be in position to win the conference than there is right now. Of course nothing matters until they get to the tournament itself. Saint Mary’s was a 3-point favorite in this game and came back to win. The fact they were favored tells you everything you need to know about the trajectory of this game.

 

This is the same Loyola Marymount team, however that just beat Gonzaga at home to end its years long winning streak at home. So it's not like the lions are coming in here with bated breath and will be shy of the moment. If they can be Gonzaga, they are very much dangerous against a St. Mary's team that is riding it all time high right now.

 

Saint Mary's is getting a large margin to be the favorite at eight points and if they are not careful, LMU will be able to take advantage of this team. Not that I think after the last few weeks that coach Randy Bennett will not have his group ready to play this game, but it's always in the back of your mind especially when you're coming off a big time win. But I trust St. Mary's to stay the course and get the job done. Saint Mary’s 81, LMU 71

Saint Mary's is 12-1 ATS after giving up 5 offensive rebounds or less last game this season.

Saint Mary's is 5-1 ATS after 2 straight home games this season.

Saint Mary's is 13-5 ATS after committing 8 turnovers or less last game the past 3 seasons.

LMU is 14-5 ATS off a road loss the past 3 seasons.

PG: Logan Johnson

SG: Aidan Mahaney

SF: Alex Ducas

PF: Kyle Bowen

C: Mitchell Saxen

PG: Cam Shelton

SG: Justin Ahrens

SF: Lamaj Lewis

PF: Keli Leaupepe

C: Rick Issanza

Points: Aidan Mahaney -- 14.8

Rebounds: Mitchell Saxen -- 8.3

Assists: Logan Johnson -- 3.8

Points: Cam Shelton -- 19.4

Rebounds: Keli Leaupepe -- 6.8

Assists: Cam Shelton -- 4.4