The NCAAB season continues as the UConn Huskies travel to take on the Gonzaga Bulldogs in this huge game heading into the holiday season.
The Bulldogs have had a fantastic season so far with an 8-2 record, while the Huskies have claimed an even more impressive 9-1 record having claimed a win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff last time out in a blowout.
We'll take a look at the match up and provide you with our best free NCAAB betting picks to see if we can earn you some extra cash while you enjoy the action on the court.
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Gonzaga Bulldogs vs UConn Huskies information
- Friday, December 15th 2023
- 22:00 ET tip-off
- Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, Washington
Season so far
Gonzaga started the season with incredible fashion and skill as they opened up with a 86-71 win over Yale in game 1, with Braden Huff top scoring with 19 points in the game before they smashed Eastern Oregon 123-57 in game 2 with Graham Ike hitting an impressive 25 points and 11 rebounds.
The team's first road trip wasn't so successful though as they came up against No.2 Purdue and fell to a 73-63 defeat with Ike top scoring with just 14 points, condemning the Bulldogs to their first defeat of the season.
But since then they have really turned a corner and went on to win each of their next five games. They dominated against Syracuse with a 76-57 win as Nolan Hickman hit 19 points, before Anton Watson hit a season-high 32 points in the 69-65 win over UCLA in game 5 for back-to-back victories. Gonzaga then followed that up with an 81-65 win over Cal State Bakersfield as Ryan Nembhard hit 22 points and five assists.
December started with an 89-76 win over USC in the Legends of Baskeball Invitational, before they blew away Arkansas-Pine Bluff 111-71 to make it five wins in a row. They then suffered a shock defeat on the road against Washington in a 73-78 game, where 18 points from Ike wasn't enough to prevent them losing. Last time out they had their best defensive display as they defeated Mississippi Valley State 78-40 to head into this game on the back of a win.
UConn on the other hand started the season on absolute fire and only recently had their flame extinguished. Game 1 against Northern Arizona saw them claim a 95-52 win at home as Alex Karaban hit 22 points, before an equally dominant 107-67 win over Stonehill followed in game 2 as Tristen Newton hit 22 points of his own.
Next was Mississippi Valley State where they claimed an 87-53 victory with Cam Spencer hitting 25 points to go with Newton's eight rebounds, before victory in the Emipre Classic semifinals over Indiana saw Newton hit a double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds. They then won the Emipire Classic Championship with an 81-71 win over Texas in Madison Square Garden to move to 5-0 for the season.
A 90-60 win over Manhattan came next with Newton hitting another double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while also leading the team in assists with seven in the game. But the team suffered their first and only defeat of the season in the next game on the road against Kansas in a Big East-Big 12 Battle, losing 69-65 despite Newton hitting a season-high 31 points.
They have since bounced back to back-to-back wins though, dispatching of North Carolina 87-76 in game 9, before Karaban hit 26 points as the Huskies smashed Arkansas 101-63 last time out.
NCAAB Picks: Gonzaga to win
The Gonzaga Bulldogs will be aimomg to build on a four-game home win streak when they host the UConn Huskies on Friday.
Anton Watson is top of the pile for the Bulldogs at 8.2 rebounds per contest, while also putting up 2.4 assists and 13.9 points per game on average for the season. Graham Ike averages a team-leading 14.2 points per game while he is also averaging 7.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game, shooting 58.8% from the floor. Ryan Nembhard averages a team-leading 5.7 assists per game and is also averaging 11.8 points and 3.7 rebounds, shooting 40.2% from the field.
As a trio they are fearsome and are a good enough a reason as any to back Gonzaga to win games of basketball. The averages suggest it will be a close game, but home-field advantage and the momentum from that four-game winning streak should be enough to get them over the line.
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NCAAB Picks: Back the Overs
So far this season the Gonzaga Bulldogs have been a free-scoring machine, averaging 84.9 points scored per game while defensively allowing an average of 65.3 points per game to be scored on them.
Alternatively the Huskies are averaging 87.4 points scored per game, while defensively they are slightly better too allowing just 63.2 points per game on average this season.
Unless the over gets set at a stupidly high point, the likelihood is that these two teams will get into a shootout on the court and that means buckets galore. Back the over to land up to 131.5 points.
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