Gonzaga (8-3) vs Bucknell (4-6)
December 21, 2024 at 09:00 PM EST
The Line: Betting Odds: Gonzaga -31.5 / Bucknell +31.5 — Over/Under: 155.5
The Bucknell Bison and the Gonzaga Bulldogs meet Saturday in college basketball action from McCarthey Athletic Center. Here’s a Bucknell vs Gonzaga prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Bucknell vs Gonzaga pick. We will examine:
The Bucknell Bison recent form and player performance
The Gonzaga Bulldogs recent form and player performance
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Bucknell Bison
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Gonzaga Bulldogs
Recent betting trends in games played between Bucknell and Gonzaga
A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Bucknell vs Gonzaga game
Bucknell Bison Betting Preview
Bucknell came into the season on a 4-2 run with losses to only Kentucky and Mount St. Mary’s during that time. The Bison have since lost five straight to Rider, Maryland, Siena, St. Bonaventure and Radford.
In the Radford game back on December 8, the Bison were down 29-25 at the break but managed to force overtime in an eventual 74-70 loss. Achile Spadone topped the team with 22 points and four rebounds in the defeat.
Gonzaga Bulldogs Betting Preview
Over on the Gonzaga side, they won five straight to start the season before their first loss to West Virginia in overtime. It’s been a 3-2 run since then with wins over Indiana, Davidson and Nicholls alongside losses to Kentucky and UConn.
Matched up against Nicholls on Wednesday, the Bulldogs were up 43-29 going into the second half. Gonzaga hit a 59-43 stretch the rest of the way and won easily 102-72. Braden Huff was the team’s top scorer with 25 points and six rebounds off the bench.
Why the Gonzaga Bulldogs will win
- Gonzaga has won 59 of its last 60 games against non-Conference opponents at McCarthey Athletic Center.
- Bucknell has lost 13 of its last 14 away games when playing with a rest advantage.
- Bucknell has lost the first half in seven of its last eight games against AP-ranked opponents.
Why the Bucknell Bison will win
- Bucknell has won four of its last five night games after coming off overtime.
Bucknell vs Gonzaga Prediction
I’ll stay with Gonzaga here, but the line’s too thick to mess with. The Bulldogs didn’t have trouble with Nicholls in their last matchup, shooting a red-hot 64.8 percent from the field and 24-of-27 (88.9 percent) from the line alongside 43 rebounds and 23 team assists. It was a nice bounce-back after a spotty 2-2 run of neutral-site games against three ranked teams (and Davidson). Even through all that, Gonzaga has hit 71 or more points in every game this year.
As for Bucknell, they shot just 36.2 percent from the field and got out-rebounded 51-37 by Radford in their latest loss. Prior to that 70-point OT effort, the Bison had been below 68 points in four straight—and below 59 points in three of those. I don’t think they’ve got the gas to keep much of a pace with Gonzaga for long.