The final game of the first round in the NCAA Tournament will feature the Antelopes of Grand Canyon taking on the Saint Mary’s Gaels. This is a game between the 12th seed and 5 seed out of the West Region. The winner of this game will take on the winner of the game between Alabama and Charleston.
Grand Canyon is 29-4 on the season. After winning the Western Athletic Conference in the regular season, they won the conference tournament as well. The Antelopes downed Texas Arlington by 15 in the title game on Saturday.
For the Saint Mary’s Gaels, they have not played since March 12th. Then, the Gaels beat Gonzaga to win the West Coast Conference tournament. Saint Mary’s also won the regular season title. The Gaels have won nine out of their last ten games.
The Saint Mary’s Gaels are -5.5 over Grand Canyon in this game.
Antelopes Dangerous
Tyon Grant-Foster is the top scorer for Grand Canyon. The guard is scoring nearly 20 points per game. In his last five games, he has scored 19+ in each of those games. In the conference title game, he scored 22 points, a night after pouring in 28.
Next for the Antelopes is Ray Harrison with 13.7 points per game. Harrison has scored double digits in each of his last four games. In the win over Texas Arlington, he scored 19 points. The offense for Grand Canyon is scoring 79.8 points per game.
Gaels 5 Seed in the Dance
The Saint Mary’s Gaels are scoring 74.2 points per game. They are making just shy of 47% of their shots this season. The Gaels are 23rd in the country, ripping down more than 36 rebounds per game. The top scorer for Saint Mary’s is Aidan Mahaney, with 13.9 points per game.
Saint Mary’s started the season 2-3. The Gaels lost games to Weber State, San Diego State and Xavier in November. The Gaels also lost a November game to the Utah Utes, and started December with a loss to Boise State.
Tournament History
The Grand Canyon started playing Division One basketball back in 2013-2014. The first head coach then was Dan Majerle. He was fired in March of 2020, and since then Bryce Drew has taken over. This is the third time the Antelope have been in the big dance. The first time was in 2001, and they lost to Iowa. In 2023, they fell to Gonzaga.
For the Saint Mary’s Gaels, this is the third straight season they have been in the big dance. The Gaels won in the first round in 2022 and 2023. The last time they lost in the first round was in 2019 to Villanova. The Gaels have not been to the NCAA Sweet 16 since the 2010 season.
Grand Canyon Pulls Upset
This is going to be a great game. Grand Canyon is a ton of fun to watch. This is a really high energy team with a ton of talent. The Gaels will need to be on the top of their game to avoid an upset in this game. We actually think the Antelopes are going to get the job done. Not only with the spread, but on the moneyline as well. We will take the Grand Canyon Antelopes +190 over Saint Mary’s on Friday.
