Portland vs Gonzaga Odds, Picks, Predictions NCAAB (1/14/23)

Portland is visiting Gonzaga in a West Coast Conference night game. The Pilots are coming off a win against San Francisco at home, while Gonzaga is coming off a last-second win against BYU on the road. This should be an interesting matchup in the WCC. Let’s take a look at the odds and make some picks and predictions for this game!

Portland vs. Gonzaga Odds

Gonzaga is an 18.5-point home favorite against Portland and is at -2800 on the money line. The over/under is also at 160.5. Gonzaga being this much of a favorite makes sense because of how good they’ve looked this year and how good they’ve looked at home. Portland also has not looked good at all. The over/under also makes sense because if oddsmakers are predicting a Gonzaga blowout then the offensive output should be very high in this game.

Portland vs. Gonzaga Prediction & Pick

The pick: Gonzaga -18.5

Gonzaga is not the dominant Gonzaga that they have been, but they are still very good this year. Drew Timme has been the do-it-all player for the Bulldogs and is still at Gonzaga after what feels like forever. He leads the Zags in points per game at 22 and then also leads the team in rebounds and assists. He’s one of the few frontrunners out there to win the Naismith and Wooden College Basketball Player of the Year Award. Julian Strawther is the second-leading scorer for Gonzaga and is also Gonzaga’s best NBA prospect heading into the NBA Draft this year. Rasir Bolton and Anton Watson are the next two in scoring production, with Bolton being one of Gonzaga’s best three-point shooters too.

As a team, Gonzaga is lead by their offense and is 4th in college basketball in scoring at 85 points per game, while they lead the entire country in field goal percentage at 51%. On the other side, Portland has struggled a lot this year. They have a do-it-all guard in Tyler Robertson who leads the Pilots in scoring and assists. Moses Wood is the next best player in scoring and also leads the team in rebounding. Kristian Sjolund and Mike Meadows are the next two in scoring as well. As a team, Portland is very good offensively, but they have struggled to play defense all year, and they might struggle on that end here. Gonzaga is nearly unbeatable at home, and even though the spread is huge it’s fair to say they’ll cover. Take the big spread with the Zags and expect a bounce back win at home after a too close for comfort win against BYU this past Wednesday.

Portland vs. Gonzaga Key Matchups

Can Vasilije Vucinic matchup with Drew Timme? Can Nolan Hickman matchup with Tyler Robertson?

Drew Timme vs Vasilije Vucinic

Drew Timme might be the frontrunner for Player of the Year in college basketball. He averages 22 points, 3 assists, and 8 rebounds for the season. He’ll be matched up for most of the game against Vasilije Vucinic, who averages 6 points, 1 assist, and 4 rebounds for the season. This could be an interesting matchup because because Vucinic leads Portland in blocks. Timme is a beast down low, so it will be interesting to see if Vucinic can put up any sort of a fight.

Tyler Robertson vs Nolan Hickman

Nolan Hickman has been a very solid point guard for Gonzaga this year. He averages 8 points, 4 assists, and 2 rebounds for the season. His matchup will be Portland’s best player, Tyler Robertson, who averages 15 points, 5 assists, and 5 rebounds for the season. This should be an interesting matchup because of how important each player is to their team. Robertson is the engine behind the Portland offense, while Hickman hasn’t been asked to do as much as Robertson. It should be fun to see what Hickman can do against a more experience