The St. John’s Red Storm (11-1, 1-0 Big East) and Villanova Wildcats (6-5, 0-0) clash in a Wednesday at Finneran Pavilion. The opening tip will be at 6:30 p.m. ET (FS1). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the St. John’s vs. Villanova odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
St. John’s is 3-0 straight-up and 2-1 against the spread (ATS) since Dec. 7. The team’s only loss this season was a 71-60 defeat at Iowa State Dec. 4, but KenPom ranks SJU’s slate so far as 337th in the nation. Still, the Red Storm played ‘Nova tough twice in 3 meetings last season, and they are coming off an impressive 93-79 win against Florida State Saturday where they covered as a 6.5-point favorite.
The Wildcats lost 4 straight games from Nov. 18-27, but they have rallied to win 4 in a row since. The recent victories have come against an easier slate, but Villanova has mostly cleaned up some defensive issues encountered during its losing skid. The ‘Cats held foes to a 39.0% mark from the floor over their last 2 games.
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St. John’s at Villanova odds
Provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 10:50 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline: St. John’s +170 (bet $100 to win $170) | Villanova -230 (bet $230 to win $100)
- Against the spread (ATS): St. John’s +4.5 (-105) | Villanova -4.5 (-115)
- Over/Under (O/U): 146.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
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St. John’s at Villanova picks and predictions
Prediction
St. John’s 78, Villanova 77
Moneyline
This match-up represents stark style-of-play differences, with Villanova playing the part of the tortoise and St. John’s playing the part of the hare. The Red Storm’s schedule may be suspect, but its defense and rebounding are not. If SJU can keep the Wildcats from going off in the 3-point department (‘Nova hit 27 over its last 2 games), it has a real chance to be in this game at the end.
Villanova has underperformed expectations (0-2 ATS) against fast foes Saint Joseph’s and Portland State. Peg St. John’s as a near-40% winner in this one. RED STORM (+170) is worth some partial-unit action.
Against the spread
The underdog is 5-1 ATS in the last 6 series meetings.
Villanova plays No. 2 UConn next and could be looking past SJU a bit. The Red Storm are a value play at +5 or better. PASS, but keep an eye on the line.
Over/Under
PASS. The game flow here needs a wide berth due to Villanova’s 3-point shooting and the clash in pace. Its O/U results in comparable games bear that out.
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