NCAA Basketball Best Bets for January 16: Gonzaga Too Much For Oregon State
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Willie Bee
- January 16, 2025
NCAAB Pick: Gonzaga -9.5 (-105) at Bookmaker (visit our Bookmaker Review)
We’re going coast-to-coast with Thursday night’s college basketball picks, and taking in a couple of mid-major leagues with matchups from the American Athletic and West Coast Conferences. In both cases, the home team is looking to upset a ranked visitor.
Memphis Tigers vs. Temple Owls
Thursday, January 16, 2025 – 07:00 PM ET at Liacouras Center
First place in the AAC is on the line in the City of Brotherly Love where the Temple Owls look to end the Memphis Tigers’ unbeaten start to the league schedule.
Top sportsbooks have been increasing the Memphis line since it first went out, the spread settling at 9 following overnight betting with 155-155½ for the total.
Owls Fly ‘Over’ Totals Last 5
Penny Hardaway is feeling pretty good about his team after the Tigers moved up a spot in the AP rankings and three steps in the coaches poll this past week. Enjoying the comforts of home, they ran their win streak to 4 with wins over conference rivals North Texas and East Carolina.
Memphis failed to impress bettors with the outcomes, however. The Tigers started slowly before rallying for a 68-64 win against the Mean Green, and blew a 17-point lead in the first half against the Pirates to barely hold on for a 74-70 decision
East Carolina was where Temple started last week, and the Owls also built an early lead as small underdogs on the NCAAB odds. Unfortunately, they were not able to withstand the Pirates’ second-half charge and eventually fell 80-79 in the final seconds.
Adam Fisher’s crew bounced right back with a 73-70 win at Rice, the victory coming as a small underdog to give Temple backers 4-straight return trips to the pay window. The cover streak comes on the heels of a stretch in which the Owls dropped the cash in 4 of 5 lined contests.
Tigers Have Won Last 6
The Tigers and Owls met just once last season, that contest also taking place on the Liacouras hardwood. Memphis built a big lead in the first half, but then had to hold off Temple’s late charge in an 84-77 final.
Memphis stretched its lead to 15-10 in the rivalry with the win, but the Owls covered as 10+ home ‘dogs, and I expect the same result tonight.
NCAAB Pick: Temple +9 (-108) at Heritage Sports (visit our Heritage Sports Review)
Gonzaga Bulldogs vs. Oregon State Beavers
Thursday, January 16, 2025 – 11:00 PM ET at Gill Coliseum
It was a little more than 34 years ago that Oregon State and Gonzaga last got together on the hardwood, and the end of that dry spell comes in Corvallis in their first meeting as conference foes.
It’s the final game on Thursday’s card, and Bookmaker has decided on 9½ as the correct amount of chalk to place on Gonzaga, also selling the total at 151½.
Beavers 15th in Country in Scoring Defense
It’s business as usual in the West Coast Conference where Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s are off to 5- 0 starts on the league fixture. Those two will meet about two weeks from now for the first of two encounters, and that will be the Bulldogs’ toughest true road game of the season.
Until then, this trip to Oregon State will serve as the toughest road foe Mark Few’s cagers have played. Gonzaga has won each of its previous three contests at hostile gyms, and covered two of those victories thanks in large part to an offense that ranks in the top 5 of the country, which is also business as usual.
Oregon State, meanwhile, has done an outstanding job defending its home floor by winning 10 of 11 at Gill Coliseum. The lone loss was a narrow defeat to an Oregon team sitting 25th in the latest KenPom, and the Ducks covered that loss as they have 9 of their 10 lined home games.
Wayne Tinkle knows his Beavers have some work to do if they’re going to get to the NCAA Tournament, and a win over Gonzaga would definitely go a long way to helping make that happen. A stingy defense that allows just 63.5 points per game will be put to the test.
Zags 0-13 All-Time in Corvallis
It was early January 1991 when the Bulldogs and Beavers last met, the contest taking place at Gill Coliseum where Oregon State treated its home fans to a 74-65 victory. Mark Few was in his first season as a Gonzaga assistant then.
The series dates back to 1911, but there have been huge gaps in the rivalry being played despite the two schools being less than 500 miles apart. Oregon State has won the last 12 for a commanding 25-2 lead, with Gonzaga’s last win coming in 1932.
This pans out to be the proverbial unstoppable force (Gonzaga’s offense) meeting the immoveable object (Oregon State’s defense). The difference is on the glass where the Bulldogs are superior to the Beavers. Lay the points.
NCAAB Pick: Gonzaga -9.5 (-105) at Bookmaker
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
