Betting odds, point spread for Gonzaga Bulldogs vs. Portland Pilots WCC men's college basketball game

The Bulldogs are overwhelming favorites heading into a matchup with the Pilots at Spokane Arena

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Dusty Stromer. / Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

Upon returning home from a California road trip, Gonzaga hosts Portland from the Spokane Arena in a West Coast Conference tilt on Thursday night.

The Bulldogs (10-4, 1-0 WCC) head into the second annual Community Cancer Fund Classic coming off a narrow win over Pepperdine earlier this week. After leading by 20 points early in the second half, the Zags needed to execute down the stretch to survive quite the upset bid from the Waves, who were led by a career-high 27 points from freshman Jaxon Olvera. Turnovers and lackluster stretches on defense also got in the way of Gonzaga, which hung on for an 89-82 victory despite entering the game as a 20.5-point favorite.

"We did this to ourselves," Zags head coach Mark Few said after the game. "We had some silly, silly, silly turnovers at the start of the second half. Just really bad turnovers, which they let get [Pepperdine] going."

Self-inflicted mistakes didn't come at the cost of an outright win in the WCC opener, but they did end up costing the Bulldogs in the sportsbooks — again. Gonzaga failed to cover as the betting favorite in each of its last six games of the 2024 calendar year and dropped to 6-8 against the spread on the season following the Pepperdine game.

• LIVE SCORE, UPDATES: GONZAGA VS. PORTLAND

Gonzaga knocked down a season-low two 3-pointers in that 7-point win, marking just the second time since 2015 that it won a game while making two or fewer 3s.

Perhaps a matchup in the Spokane Arena against the Pilots (5-10, 0-2 WCC) to begin 2025 will bring Mark Few and company a much-needed fresh start. Gonzaga has won the last 18 head-to-head meetings in decisive fashion, especially when at home. The Bulldogs beat Portland by 32 points at the Kennel last season after knocking down a season-high 15 3-pointers. In 2022-23, the Zags made 18 triples to beat the Pilots by 40 points.

With those trends in mind, Gonzaga is favored by 34.5 points heading into Thursday's game against Portland.

Gonzaga vs. Portland Betting Odds, TV Channel

Spread: Gonzaga -33.5 (-110)

Over/Under: 160.5 (-110)

Moneyline: N/A

Records against the spread: Gonzaga (6-8)   Portland (6-7)

Game time: Thursday, Jan. 2 at 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET

Our prediction: Gonzaga 103, Portland 71

TV Channel: ESPN+ (out of region) KHQ/SWX (regional*) FOX13+ (Seattle) FOX12+ (Portland)

*Spokane, Yakima, Tri-Cities, Eastern Washington, Coeur d'Alene and North Idaho, Missoula, Great Falls, Butte, Bozeman and Helena will experience blackouts on KHQ/SWX broadcasts. Fans in these areas can watch at swxlocalsports.com.

MORE GONZAGA NEWS & ANALYSIS

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• ESPN Bracketology projects San Francisco will win WCC over Gonzaga

• What Gonzaga's Mark Few said after win vs. Pepperdine

• What Gonzaga's Braden Huff said after win vs. Pepperdine

• What Gonzaga's Khalif Battle said after win vs. Pepperdine

• Gonzaga basketball plane nearly collides with Delta jet at LAX

• Gonzaga's Drew Timme is on the move following NBA G League trade

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