West Coast Conference Semifinals
Santa Clara Broncos vs St. Mary’s Gaels, Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, NV
Sunday, March 6, 2011, 8:00 pm Eastern, TV: ESPN2
Opening Line: St. Mary’s -8 1/2
Current Line: St. Mary’s -8 1/2
Opening Total: 144
Current Total: 143
Money Line: St, Mary’s -380 / Santa Clara +320
The West Coast Conference semifinals are tonight. The top 2 seeds get byes into the semifinals so St. Mary’s and Gonzaga make their debuts tonight after two nights of play. St. Mary’s is the top seed and will take on #4 seed Santa Clara. The Broncos played last night in the quarterfinals and beat #8 seed Loyola Marymount 76-68. St. Mary’s is 23-7 overall and 11-3 in conference. They tied with Gonzaga for the WCC regular season title but St. Mary’s held the tie breaker because of a better overall record. St. Mary’s struggled down the stretch losing 3 of their 4. They did win at home against Portland in their last game of the regular season 83-69 last Saturday. That win snapped a 3 game losing streak to San Diego, Utah St and Gonzaga. Santa Clara is 19-13 overall and finished 8-6 in the conference. The Broncos have won three straight games, but those wins have all come against Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine, who along with San Diego are the worst teams in the conference. St. Mary’s swept the season series winning 84-59 at home and 65-59 at Santa Clara. The two schools are only around 35 miles apart.
Santa Clara leads the overall series against St. Mary’s 131-78. This is the second time 5 years the two rivals are meeting in the semifinals of the WCC tournament. St. Mary’s has won 5 of the last 6 straight up, but Santa Clara is 5-1 ATS in those games. Five of those six have gone under the total.
Santa Clara guard Robert Smith left the team in December for personal reasons. He averaged 5.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.1 steals a game. Santa Clara is led by guard Kevin Foster who averages 19.4 points, 2.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.6 steals a game. He leads the team in scoring. Forward Marc Trasolini averages 12.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1 block a game. He leads the Broncos in rebounds and blocks. Guard Evan Roquemore averages 11.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists to lead the team, and 1.1 steals a game. Troy Payne ties for the team lead in rebounds with 5.8 a game and leads the team in steals with 1.8 a game. Santa Clara is outscoring opponents 73-71 on the season. The Broncos shoot 42.8% from the field and 34.8% from 3-point range. Bronco opponents are shooting 44.4% from the field. Santa Clara makes 72.7% from the free throw line. They average 35.8 rebounds a game and have a rebounding margin of +3.4. The Broncos average 13.1 assists per game and 14.4 turnovers a game. They force 15.1 turnovers a game on defense. Santa Clara averages 7.8 steals and 3.1 blocks a game.
St. Mary’s guard Jorden Page is out for the season with a knee injury. He only played in 7 games for the Gaels. Guard Mickey McConnell averages 16.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, 6.1 assists, and 1.2 steals a game. He leads the team in scoring and assists, and is shooting 47.5% from 3-point range. Forward Rob Jones averages 13.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1 steal a game. He leads the team in rebounds. Matthew Dellavedova averages 13.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 1.3 steals a game to lead the team. Mitchell Young averages 10.2 points, and 5.1 rebounds a game. Kenton Walker II leads the team in blocks with 1 a game. Stephen Holt leads the team in steals with 1.8 a game. The Gaels are outscoring opponents 80-66 on the season. They are shooting 49% from the field and 39.1% from 3-point range. St. Mary’s opponents are shooting 44% from the field. The Gaels make 75.1% from the free throw line. SMC averages 35.1 rebounds a game and has a rebounding margin of +4.8. The Gaels average 17 assists and 11.5 turnovers a game. The Gaels force 13.6 turnovers a game on defense. They average 7.1 steals and 3.4 blocks a game.
Neither of these teams are very good at defending as they give up 44% shooting from the field. St. Mary’s doesn’t allow as many points, so that could be the difference. Santa Clara only scored 59 points in each of the two losses to St. Mary’s. Unless the Gaels look ahead to a likely date with Gonzaga in the championship game they should roll in this match-up against Santa Clara.
Our college basketball handicappers are red hot as the post-season gets under way. Don’t miss out on any more winners from now until they cut down the nets next month in Houston.
