NCAA Tournament Odds: Saint Mary’s vs. Richmond

Star Kevin Anderson has led Richmond to one of its best seasons. (AP Images)

Saint Mary’s and Richmond are two mid-major teams who appear very much alike (on the surface), and this No. 10 vs. No. 7 matchup on Thursday afternoon in Providence, R.I., looks like one of the NCAA Tournament’s most evenly matched first-round games. The Spiders have opened as 2-point favorites on Bodog’s college basketball odds.

The Gaels (26-5, 19-10 ATS) seem to always play second fiddle to Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference, but they upset the Zags to win the conference tournament and thus not have to worry about an at-large bid that didn’t come last year despite a stellar record. Saint Mary’s is led by center Omar Samhan, who averaged 20.9 points and 11.0 rebounds this season as the most dominant player in the WCC. The Gaels are a good offensive team, ranking 11th in Division I in field goal percentage (48.7) and fourth in 3-point field goal percentage. SMC is 1-5 all-time in the NCAA Tournament hasn’t won a game in it since March 12, 1959.

Richmond (26-8, 18-10-2 ATS) lost to Temple in the Atlantic 10 Tournament final, which snapped a four-game winning streak for the Spiders against ranked foes. Richmond has a great backcourt led by Kevin Anderson (17.9 points per game), the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, and David Gonzalvez (14.5 ppg), but if the team has one big weakness it’s rebounding. The school is often called Upset U because Richmond is the only team to win NCAA Tournament games as a 12, 13, 14 and 15 seed. This is the Spiders’ first NCAA berth since 2004, and for once they will be a lower seed than the opponent. They are 5-1 on neutral court games this season, including wins over NCAA Tournament teams Florida, Xavier and Missouri as well as SEC West champion Mississippi State.

The winner of this game meets the No. 2 Villanova/No. 15 Robert Morris winner in the second round Saturday.

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