Milwaukee Panthers vs Santa Clara Broncos Prediction, Odds, Best Bets - Week 1

Santa Clara, picked to win the WCC, hosts Milwaukee at the Leavey Center in the second game of the season for both teams. The Broncos scored 89 points with six men in double figures on Monday, while Milwaukee gave up 95 at USC and may be without John Lovelace Jr.

The Matchup

Santa Clara is an 18.5-point favorite over Milwaukee at the Leavey Center in Santa Clara on Wednesday night, with a total of 159.5, on ESPN+. It is the second game of the season for both teams, and both played on Monday.

Santa Clara finished 26-9 last season, scoring 82.9 points per game and allowing 72.9, and reached the NCAA Tournament. Milwaukee finished 12-20, scoring 76.3 and allowing 79.6. Those are last season's numbers, and both rosters look different now. Monday's openers pointed the same way this matchup does.

Santa Clara beat Towson 89-70 at home on Monday, and the scoring came from everywhere. Six Broncos reached double figures. Brad Longcor III, who sat out last season as a redshirt, led the team with 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting and three three-pointers. Sash Gavalyugov scored 17 with four threes.

Gavalyugov is a preseason All-WCC pick who averaged 9.0 points a game last season and once scored 37 points in this building. David Castillo, a transfer from Kansas State, where he averaged 10.3 points a game last season, scored 14 against Towson, 11 of them after halftime. Elijah Mahi, the top returning scorer at 14.1 points a game last season, came off the bench for 11 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists after his eligibility was settled late in the fall. Jake Ensminger, another preseason All-WCC pick, ran the offense with 4 assists against a single turnover.

Milwaukee's opener went the other way. The Panthers lost 95-63 at USC on Monday, allowing the Trojans to shoot 56.9 percent from the field and 54.5 percent from three, and turning the ball over 17 times themselves. Freshman Amare Hereford was the bright spot, with a team-high 14 points off the bench in his college debut, though he also had 5 turnovers. Tre Norman scored 13, all of them in the second half, and Isaiah Dorceus added 10.

The two Panthers who were supposed to carry the scoring were quiet. Danilo Jovanovich, a preseason All-Horizon League first-team pick who averaged 12.4 points and 6.1 rebounds in 17 games last season before an injury ended his year, scored 2 points in 31 minutes. Chandler Jackson, a second-team pick who averaged 16.1 points a game from February 1 on last season, scored 3.

Milwaukee may be without one more piece. John Lovelace Jr. is questionable to play tonight. He injured his left leg on a second-half layup at USC, left the floor with a trainer, and did not return, and no update on his status has been published since.

Lovelace missed all of last season with an injury and had just worked his way back into the rotation. Keep an eye on whether Lovelace plays before placing a bet. No Santa Clara player carries an injury report into the game, though rotation guard KJ Cochran did not play against Towson and the school has not explained his absence.

Key Factors

Start with the building and the week. Santa Clara went 14-1 at home last season, this is the second of three straight home games to open its season, and the Broncos were picked to win the WCC in the preseason poll with nine first-place votes, the first time the program has been picked first since 1995-96. Milwaukee is living out of a suitcase.

The Panthers flew west, lost at USC on Monday, and stayed in California for this game instead of going home in between, and they were 3-14 on the road last season, scoring 72.4 points a game away from home against 80.1 at home. A tired road team walking into a rested home team's building is a bad place to start, and Milwaukee's defense gives it very little margin for a slow start.

Depth is the second factor. Santa Clara lost five of its top six scorers from its tournament team, and Monday showed where the replacement scoring lives: a redshirt, a Kansas State transfer, and a bench full of guards who can shoot.

Six men in double figures means Milwaukee cannot load its defense toward one player, and Herb Sendek can keep fresh shooters coming for forty minutes. Milwaukee returns just 26.1 percent of its scoring from last season. If Jovanovich and Jackson are quiet again, the Panthers are asking a freshman and their bench to keep up in a building where the home team just scored 89.

The honest counterpoint is Santa Clara's own defense and its work on the glass. The Broncos allowed 72.9 points a game last season and opponents shot 45.3 percent against them, Towson outrebounded them 37-33 on Monday, and Santa Clara committed 23 fouls in that game.

A favorite that fouls and gives back rebounds hands a big underdog free possessions, and Milwaukee's frontcourt has the men to collect some, with Jovanovich at forward and Nate Malosa, a junior college transfer who led the NJCAA in blocks last season, at center. If Milwaukee's two all-league forwards play to their billing, this number becomes a fight. Monday said they are not there yet, and a second road game in three days is a hard place to find it.

Every pick is published with its line before the game. Odds via consensus sportsbooks at time of writing and move constantly. Must be 21+. If gambling is a problem, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER.