College Basketball Picks: Rhode Island Rams vs. Saint Mary's Gaels

The Rhode Island Rams (4-7) will make their first trip to the state of California since 2001 on Thursday night, as they prepare to take on the Saint Mary's Gaels (8-3) at McKeon Pavilion, with the opening tip scheduled for 10 p.m. ET.

Sports bettors will find that the Gaels are 16-point home favorites in the college basketball betting odds (courtesy of SBR Forum), while the total stands at 135.5.

Let's take a closer look at this non-conference affair from a betting perspective while offering an against-the-spread (ATS) pick along the way. 

The Rhode Island Rams are allowing 12.0 fewer points per game this season than last year, which can be attributed to first-year head coach Dan Hurley stressing defense to his roster.

Sports bettors will find that the Rams have lost six of their eight games in straight-up fashion as an underdog this year, but they've gone 5-3 ATS in that situation.

The Saint Mary's Gaels are certainly capable of bouncing back from their recent loss to Northern Iowa, considering they've gone 74-9 at home versus non-conference foes over the last seven seasons.

Point guard Matthew Dellavedova is the player to watch on the offensive end, averaging 18.5 points and 6.1 assists per game, while the Gaels shoot 50.4 percent from the field overall.

I'm going to recommend that readers back the Saint Mary's Gaels as one of their NCAA basketball picks Thursday night, as they've gone 2-1 ATS as home favorites of 12.5 or more points this season.

College Basketball Pick: Saint Mary's Gaels -16

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