Santa Clara vs Portland Prediction College Basketball Picks 2/29/24

Portland (9-20) vs Santa Clara (18-11)

Game Info: Thursday, February 29, 2024 at 9:00 pm (Chiles Center)

Betting Odds: Portland Pilots +10.5 -- Over/Under: 151.5 Click Here for the Latest Odds

Where to Watch: ESPN+

The Santa Clara Broncos and the Portland Pilots meet Thursday in college basketball action from Chiles Center. Santa Clara lost to Gonzaga in their last outing on Saturday, dropping the Broncos to 18-11 overall. As for Portland, they lost to Gonzaga last Thursday and fell to 9-20 this year. Let’s get into our Santa Clara vs. Portland prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Pick Dawgz.

Santa Clara Broncos

The Broncos managed a 12-7 start this year, then hit a win streak over Pacific, Portland and Pepperdine in January. Santa Clara would drop the next three games, then win the three after that over Pacific, San Diego and Loyola Marymount before another loss to Gonzaga.

In the Gonzaga matchup on Saturday, the Broncos were down by six points at halftime. Santa Clara didn’t get any closer on a 42-35 second-half run and ended up losing 94-81 in the end. Christoph Tilly was the leading team scorer on his 18 points and eight rebounds.

Portland Pilots

Over on the Portland side, they started out the year on a rough 7-15 run through their first 22 outings. The Pilots managed consecutive wins over Pacific and Pepperdine, but since have lost to Gonzaga (twice), Saint Mary’s, San Diego and Pepperdine in their last five games.

In the home rematch versus Gonzaga last Thursday, the Pilots came out of the break with a 43-30 deficit. Portland was outscored 43-35 the rest of the way in an eventual loss 86-65. Tyler Robertson topped the team in the losing effort with his 18 points, eight boards and three assists.

ANDREW’S FREE SANTA CLARA VS PORTLAND PREDICTION

I’m leaning toward Santa Clara for this one. The Broncos couldn’t make much headway versus Gonzaga in their last outing despite a 35-34 rebounding edge (14-9 offensive) and 45.6 percent shooting. The main issues were the 12 turnovers (leading to 21 Bulldogs points) and the 56.7 percent shooting allowed. Still, Santa Clara is 3-1 in their last four and not playing too badly overall.

In their last meeting on January 20, Santa Clara posted a 101-86 win at home over Portland. The Broncos shot a nice 55.1 percent from the field in that one with 39 rebounds and 28 team assists in a pretty well-rounded effort. Portland will probably put up more of a fight in the home rematch but I think the Broncos cover in the end all the same.

Andrew’s Pick Santa Clara Broncos -10.5

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The pick in this article is the opinion of the writer, not a PickDawgz site consensus.

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