College Basketball Best Bets: Monday 3/11 - Santa Clara vs St. Mary's | Pickswise

The College Basketball regular season is finally complete and conference championship week is here! We’ve got plenty of madness in store this week, as we’ll have nonstop action and marquee Games for 7 consecutive days before the reveal of the NCAA Tournament bracket on Selection Sunday.

While the college hoops market is as sharp as it has ever been, there are still a few good value bets of which to take advantage. Let’s take a look at my best bets for Monday’s action, but make sure you also check out our College Basketball picks for the biggest Games of the day.

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Santa Clara Broncos +11.5 over St. Mary’s Gaels (-110)

Odds available at DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publishing. Playable to Santa Clara +9.5 

The WCC tournament is consistently an entertaining venture out in Las Vegas, particularly once we reach the semifinal stage. This matchup features a pair of programs that have typically found themselves in this role over the past couple of seasons, as the top-seeded Saint Mary’s Gaels will host the Santa Clara Broncos on Monday. These teams played back on January 31 in Moraga and the Gaels eked out a 82-77 victory despite surrendering 55 points to the Broncos in the second half. Over the past month, Santa Clara holds a 6-3 record, with 2 of those losses by a combined 6 points. In those losses, the Broncos blew a double-digit second-half lead at San Francisco and fell in overtime at Portland. However, things are trending up for Herb Sendek’s team, as they avenged that loss to the Dons on March 2 and followed that up with a dominant showing against San Diego in the quarterfinals last Saturday.

While the Broncos are in good form, the same can’t quite be said for this Saint Mary’s team. The Gaels are still one of the better defensive units in the country, but they really miss sophomore forward Joshua Jefferson, who has left a massive hole in the frontcourt after suffering a knee injury last month. Sophomore center Harry Wessels might also miss this contest, which will leave the Gaels extremely limited in the frontcourt. Given that Santa Clara is a top-30 unit on the offensive glass, that could become a major storyline as this game unfolds. I don’t expect the Broncos’ defense to completely stifle the likes of Mitchell Saxen or Aidan Mahaney, but Santa Clara is strong on the defensive boards and defending the 3-point arc, so I don’t expect many second-chance points for Saint Mary’s either. We know that Randy Bennett’s team already has its ticket punched to the Big Dance, so I’ll back the underdog with its season on the line in this WCC semifinal.