The St. John’s Red Storm (6-6, 1-5 Big East) host the Butler Bulldogs (3-6, 2-4) Tuesday at Carnesecca Arena for a Big East battle. The tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET. Below, we analyze the Butler-St. John’s college basketball betting odds and lines, with picks and predictions.
Butler at St. John’s: Betting odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 1:30 p.m. ET.
- Money line: Butler +105 (bet $100 to win $105) | St. John’s -125 (bet $125 to win $100)
- Against the spread/ATS: Butler +1.5 (-110) | St. John’s -1.5 (-110)
- Over/Under: 142.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
Butler at St. John’s: Three things to know
- Butler has lost three of four including a 72-60 loss at home to UConn its last time out Jan. 9. The Bulldogs have an anemic offense that ranks 312th in points per game and 254th in field-goal percentage despite being an above-average 3-point shooting team (89th in 3-point percentage).
- St. John’s has lost four of its last five games with the previous two coming on the road, and the latest was a 97-79 beatdown by Creighton this past Saturday. The Johnnies have Swiss cheese defense: 326th in opponent’s points per game, 334th opponent’s field-goal shooting and 318th opponent’s 3-point shooting.
- The Bulldogs beat the Johnnies in both St. John’s-Butler games last season (1-1 ATS)—a 77-55 win at home in March 2020 and a 60-58 win at St. John’s in Dec. 2019—and have won five of their last seven meetings (4-3 ATS).
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Butler at St. John’s: Odds, betting lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
St. John’s 79, Butler 71
Money line (ML)
St. John’s has one of the worst defenses in the country, however, Butler doesn’t have an offense that can take advantage of that.
The Bulldogs have the worst effective field-goal percentage in the Big East, the 270th ranked true shooting percentage (which takes into account free throw shooting), the 244th-highest offensive rating and their defensive rating is even worse.
When you look under the Johnnies’ hood it’s not much prettier but, St. John’s is a perfect 5-0 at home and Butler is 0-3 in road games. That’s enough for me to BACK ST. JOHN’S (-125) for 1 unit to win outright.
Against the spread (ATS)
PASS ON THE SPREAD. I’d rather spend extra for a straight-up St. John’s win than fuss with them covering any number.
Two readily available ATS trends I’ve seen can give us confidence backing St. John’s: The home team has covered 10 of the last 11 Butler-St. John’s meetings, and the favorite is 8-3 ATS in those games (Covers.com).
Over/Under (O/U)
PASS ON THE TOTAL with a lean on the OVER 142.5 (-110). The O/U trends point in opposite directions for both teams with Butler games trending Under and St. John’s games trending Over.
Furthermore, these teams play at completely different paces: Butler plays at the 335th-fastest pace while St. John’s pace ranks at 12th. Since I’m on St. John’s to win outright, I figure the game will be played at the Johnnies’ tempo but, I don’t have a strong enough feel to put cash on it.
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