St. John’s Red Storm will take on the Villanova Wildcats in the second round of the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. Below, we look at the St. John’s vs. Villanova odds and lines, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
St. John’s enters the Big East quarterfinals after beating DePaul 92-73 last night. The seventh-seeded Red Storm won the game behind a game-high 26 points from F Julian Champagnie.
St. John’s lost both games against Villanova this season — 75-69 at home and 73-62 on the road. The Red Storm covered both matches, as 6.5-point and then 13.5 point underdogs.
The Wildcats are ranked No. 8 in the nation and are the No. 2 seed in the Big East Tournament. They’re 11-6 this season away from home and have won 7 of their last 8 games.
Nova was 15-14-1 against the spread (ATS) this season.
Rankings courtesy of the Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports.
St. John’s vs. Villanova 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 12:20 p.m. ET.
- Money line: St. John’s +220 (bet $100 to win $220) | Villanova -340 (bet $340 to win $100)
- Against the spread (ATS): St. John’s +6.5 (-116) | Villanova -6.5 (-117)
- Over/Under (O/U): 148.5 (O: -117 | U: -116)
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St. John’s vs. Villanova odds, lines, picks and predictions
Prediction
Villanova 77, St. John’s 74
Money line
PASS.
I don’t hate St. John’s at +220. If there is a team to make a run, it should be one with the second-leading scorer in the conference on a team that plays at the fastest pace in the conference.
Nonetheless, I’ll play the safer side and take the points.
Against the spread
BET on ST. JOHN’S +6.5 (-116).
St. John’s and Villanova are both around the middle of the pack when it comes to covering conference games, but one area where the Wildcats have not covered well this season is when they have a rest advantage.
They’re just 2-7 ATS in games where they’re the more rested side. Much of this game will be on who controls the pace, with St. John’s third in the nation in possessions per game and Villanova 331 out of 358 teams.
In one battle against Nova, St. John’s shot 32% from the field, and in the other, it was just 19% from three and 47% from the free-throw line.
As long as the Red Storm put together a moderately efficient game, they should be able to stay close with Villanova. They’ve had more shots and more offensive rebounds in both the previous matchups, so the success on the glass is there.
If there’s any game to finally put it all together, it’s when your season is on the line, and that desperation should boost St. John’s ability to cover here.
Over/Under
LEAN to the OVER 148.5 (-117).
Both of the two teams’ previous matchups went under the projected total by 8 or fewer points with one of the battles under by half a point.
With how St. John’s may look to extend the game if down late against the best free-throwing shooting team in the nation (Villanova shoots 82.5% from the line), I expect there to be an abundance of points scored.
Previously mentioned pace will be a huge factor, and as St. John’s pushed the pace on DePaul, it should try to do it against Villanova.
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