College Basketball Betting Preview: A look at San Diego St-Gonzaga

San Diego St Aztecs at Gonzaga Bulldogs, McCarthey Athletic Center, Spokane, WA
Tuesday, November 16, 2010, 11:00 pm Eastern, TV: ESPN 2
Opening Line: Gonzaga -5
Current Line: Gonzaga -6
Opening Total: 140 1/2
Current Total: 142
Money Line: Gonzaga -260 / SDST +220

Elias Harris and the Zags take on San Diego St in early season college basketball action. Gonzaga is 6 point favorite at home

Coach Steve Fisher takes his San Diego St Aztecs on the road to take on the Gonzaga bulldogs in the first true test of the season for both teams. The Aztecs are ranked for the first time in their history at #25. Gonzaga is no stranger to being ranked of course with all teh program’s vaunted success. The Bulldogs are #12 in the country. Gonzaga is 2-0 with routs over Southern and IUPUI, while San Diego St is 1-0 with a victory over Long Beach St. This game is part of the CBE classic tournament. Win or lose, Gonzaga will play #3 Kansas St in Kansas City in the semifinal round of the tournament. Gonzaga just played on Sunday , but the Bulldogs are 92-66 ATS when playing with one day or fewer rest since 1997.

The Aztecs have never won an NCAA tournament game in their history going 0-6. That could change this year as they return all 5 starters from a team that was beaten in a mild upset by Tennessee in the first round last year. Four of those starters averaged double digits in scoring last year. Sophomore forward Kawhi Leonard is the teams best player. He averaged almost 13 points and 10 rebounds a game last season. He scored 21 points and and had 12 rebounds in the Aztecs 81-65 rout at Long Beach Saturday. Seniors Malcolm Thomas and Billy White complete the starting frontcourt. Point guard D.J. Gay and shooting guard Chase Tapley are the starting backcourt. gay scored 20 points in the win against Long beach and added 3 assists and 3 rebounds. He did have 4 turnovers, something he will have to improve against the Zags. San Diego St has a deep bench as well led by junior forward Tim Shelton who is recovering from knee injuries, and Santa Clara transfer James Rahon. Rahon is deadly from 3-point range. In fact, he shot 4-7 from beyond the arc against Long Beach and contributed 14 points off the bench. Senior center Brian Carlwell, senior forward Mehdi Cherier, and feshmen point guard LaBradford Franklin will also see significant playing time.

Gonzaga has gone Jaguar hunting this season with easy victories over Southern 117-72 and IUPUI 86-56. It won’t be that easy against San Diego St. Gonzaga is shooting almost 60% from the field so far and scoring 101 points a game. They are only allowing their opponents to shoot 38 percent from the field. Granted Southern and IUPUI are exactly Final Four caliber teams and probably won’t even make it to postseason play, but it is still impressive how dominant Gonzaga has been so far this season. The Zags return 7 of their 8 top scorers from last season, including all-WCC players Steven Gray and Elias Harris. Gray is averaging 21 points, 7.5 rebounds, 8.5 assists, and 3.5 steals a game so far through 2 games. He has been nearly unstoppable so far and is trying to replace WCC player of the year Matt Bouldin who led the Bulldogs in scoring, assists, and steals last year. Sophomore forward Elias Harris is very talented but is off to a slow start so far this season. He is averaging 9 points and 3 rebounds a game. Other players on the front court include 7’3″ Robert Sacre, 6’11” Kelly Olynyk, and 6’9″ redshirt freshman Same Dower. In the backcourt, besides Gray the Buldogs do have some questions at the point. Junior Demetri Goodson is runnign the point but he has 4 assists per game. Gray has been so good at distributign the ball so far that it hasn’t mattered.

Gonzaga’s size advantage might be too much for the Aztecs to handle. Carlwell is the Aztecs’ tallest player at 6’11. The Aztecs got off to a sluggish start at Long Beach and were tied at halftime before breaking the game open in the second half. The Aztecs can’t afford a slow start against Gonzaga or it could be a long night. Both of these teams run up-tempo offenses and depend on shooting the three. It will be a great game and a good early season test for both of these teams that expect to play deep into March.