The Notre Dame Fighting Irish take on the Saint Mary's Gaels at 11:30 p.m. ET on Monday night at the Michelob Ultra Arena in the opening round of the 2021 Maui Invitational. Although they won against High Point last Tuesday, 70-61, Notre Dame will be looking for a much better shooting night against a Saint Mary's side that has won all four of its games to start the season. In the Gaels' most recent win against Bellarmine, Matthias Tass led all Saint Mary's players with 25 points in a 73-64 victory.
The Fighting Irish are favored by a single point in the latest Notre Dame vs. Saint Mary's odds from Caesars Sportsbook, and the over-under is set at 131.5. Before entering any Saint Mary's vs. Notre Dame picks, you'll want to see the college basketball predictions from the model at SportsLine.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every Division I college basketball game 10,000 times. Over the past five-plus years, the proprietary computer model has generated an impressive profit of almost $2,100 for $100 players on its top-rated college basketball picks against the spread. Anyone who has followed it has seen huge returns.
Now, the model has set its sights on Notre Dame vs. Saint Mary's. You can head to SportsLine to see its picks. Here are several college basketball odds for Saint Mary's vs. Notre Dame:
- Notre Dame vs. Saint Mary's spread: Notre Dame -1
- Notre Dame vs. Saint Mary's over-under: 131.5 points
What you need to know about Notre Dame
Four players on Notre Dame scored in the double digits in its win against High Point: Forward Paul Atkinson (19 points), guard Dane Goodwin (12), forward Nate Laszewski (10), and guard Cormac Ryan (10). The Fighting Irish only played a seven-man rotation and shot just 36 percent from the field, and were even worse from distance, after they made just 6-of-31 3-point attempts.
Goodwin and Laszewski are the top two returning players from last year's roster. Atkinson transferred from Yale, where he averaged 17.6 points and 7.3 rebounds for the Bulldogs. Through two games this season, Atkinson has averaged 17.5 points and 8.5 boards. In 2020-21, Laszewski finished just behind top scorer Prentiss Hubb, with 13.3 points per game, but he was also the top rebounder.
What you need to know about Saint Mary's
Besides Tass's strong showing against Bellarmine in Saint Mary's last win, guard Tommy Kuhse chipped in with 15 points and six assists. The redshirt senior is coming off of his best season with the Gaels, where he finished with 12.8 points, five assists and 3.8 rebounds per game.
Last season, Saint Mary's was one of the nation's best defenses in limiting 3-point attempts. Opponents only made 5.2 of the 14.7 3-point attempts they took on average. Through four games, the Gaels are seeing teams shoot more threes (17.8 per game), but they have still made just 5.5. Notre Dame has made just 29.3 percent of the 3-pointers it has taken through its first two games, and has only taken an average of 57.5 field-goal attempts. If the Irish aren't significantly more sharp than they were in their last game, they could be in for a battle with the Gaels.
How to make Saint Mary's vs. Notre Dame picks
The model is leaning over on the total, and it's also generated a point-spread pick that is hitting in 60 percent of simulations. You can only see the pick at SportsLine.
Who wins Notre Dame vs. Saint Mary's? And which side of the spread is a must-back? Visit SportsLine right now to see which side of the spread you need to jump on, all from the computer model that has crushed its college basketball picks
