The 10th-seed DePaul Blue Demons (15-15) and 7th-seed St. John’s Red Storm (16-14) clash Wednesday for a Big East Tournament game at Madison Square Garden in New York. The first-round tussle is slated for a 7 p.m. ET tip-off. Below, we look at the DePaul vs. St. John’s odds and lines, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
DePaul — which went 6-14 in the Big East regular season — heads into this bracket on a high note with wins in three of its last four games. Up-tempo DePaul has shot the ball better over that span (46.9%) and has also been getting to the line much more frequently of late (25.3 attempts per game since Feb. 17).
St. John’s went 8-11 in the Big East regular season. It plays at the fastest tempo in all of NCAA-I hoops, and the Red Storm lead the conference in scoring at 79.7 points per game.
SJU and DePaul split two games (Jan. 5, Feb. 27) in the regular season.
See also: Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports
DePaul vs. St. John’s odds, spread and lines
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 8:36 a.m. ET.
- Money line: DePaul +165 (bet $100 to win $165) | St. John’s -240 (bet $240 to win $100)
- Against the spread (ATS): DePaul +4.5 (-112) | St. John’s -4.5 (-122)
- Over/Under (O/U): 153.5 (O: -116 | U: -117)
[tipico]
DePaul vs. St. John’s odds, lines, picks and predictions
Prediction
St. John’s 81, DePaul 78
Money line
No value here, although the Demons would be the lean on a tag north of +175. Otherwise, PASS.
Against the spread
The Blue Demons have won seven in a row ATS as underdogs, and the underdog is 4-1 in the last five DU-SJU tilts.
St. John’s is a good match-up for this DePaul five. The speedy Red Storm went a combined 2-5 ATS against its three fastest opponents in-conference (DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette) and two fastest foes before conference play (Fordham, Kansas).
Three-pointers may be needed to keep the Demons close or pull off a late-game cover. DU has had a couple of excellent distance performances against SJU this season.
BACK THE BLUE DEMONS +4.5 (-112).
Over/Under
This contest features the two leading scorers in the Big East. Look for veteran guards Julian Champagnie (SJU, 18.9 PPG) and Javon Freeman-Liberty (DU, 21.9 PPG) to have their say.
The Over went 5-2 in the above group of seven fast-on-fast St. John’s games.
A lot of possessions tilt this one toward the OVER 153.5 (-116).
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