The Washington State Cougars take on the Santa Clara Broncos in Santa Clara, CA. Tip-off is set for 11 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network.
Santa Clara is favored by 5.5 points on the spread with a moneyline of -218. The total is set at 158.5 points.
Here are my Washington State vs. Santa Clara predictions and college basketball picks for January 23, 2025.
Washington State vs Santa Clara Prediction
My Pick: Washington State +5.5 (Play to +5)
My Washington State vs Santa Clara best bet is on the Cougars spread, with the best odds currently available at DraftKings. For all of your college basketball bets, be sure to find the best lines by using our live NCAAB odds page.
Washington State vs Santa Clara Odds
| Washington State Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+5.5 -110 | 158.5 -112 / -108 | +180 |
| Santa Clara Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-5.5 -110 | 158.5 -112 / -108 | -218 |
- Washington State vs Santa Clara spread: Santa Clara -5.5
- Washington State vs Santa Clara over/under: 158.5 points
- Washington State vs Santa Clara moneyline: Santa Clara -218, Washington State +180
- Washington State vs Santa Clara best bet: Washington State +5.5 (Play to +5)
Spread
I'm backing the Cougars to cover the spread as road 'dogs.
Moneyline
I'm passing on the moneyline.
Over/Under
I'm passing on the over/under.
My Pick: Washington State +5.5 (Play to +5)
Washington State vs Santa Clara College Basketball Betting Preview
Situationally, this feels like a good letdown spot for Santa Clara, which just pulled off an incredible 103-99 road win over Gonzaga last Saturday (although the Bulldogs have looked like a shell of themselves lately).
Washington State couldn’t quite pull off the upset against Gonzaga, but the Cougars did cover a 17-point spread despite the Bulldogs shooting 48% from 3 (10-for-21). Since that loss, the Cougars scraped by San Diego and blew out Portland.
I like how Wazzu runs its offense. The Cougars are a solid rim-and-3, inside-out, balanced offense that works through posters and cutters while running off-screen actions on the perimeter.
Santa Clara’s biggest strength is its two-way versatility on the wing. As such, the Broncos are excellent at switching and denying secondary off-ball screening actions (.74 PPP allowed, 82nd percentile, per Synergy) and 3-point attempts (39% 3-point attempt rate allowed, fourth in WCC, per KenPom).
However, the Broncos have been gashed underneath. They struggle to defend posters (.96 PPP allowed, 17th percentile, per Synergy) and cutters (1.35 PPP allowed, fifth percentile, per Synergy), allowing 34 paint points per game (26th percentile, per CBB Analytics).
That doesn’t bode well in a matchup with Wazzu, which should be able to efficiently work on the interior, drag the Clara defenders down and then open up the perimeter.
On the other end of the court, Santa Clara primarily runs spread ball-screen actions while relying on its athletic wings to win at the rim.
While the Cougars aren’t efficient at stopping the dribble (.82 PPP allowed, 26th percentile, per Synergy), they’ve been a good pick-and-roll denial defense, ranking in the top-90 nationally in ball-screen possessions per game allowed (19, per Synergy).
Ultimately, I think the situational spot favors the Cougars, and the schematic matchup is pretty good.
