College Basketball Odds, Pick for St. John’s vs Xavier

Two teams in the middle of the Big East pack meet at Cintas Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Wednesday night as the Xavier Musketeers host the St. John’s Red Storm.

St. John’s snapped a two-game losing streak with a rout of Villanova, while Xavier is coming off a humiliating effort in a blowout loss at top-ranked UConn.

It’s been a roller coaster ride in conference play for Rick Pitino’s St. John's squad, which started 4-1 in the Big East before suffering three consecutive losses.

Two of the defeats came by one point each to Creighton and Marquette, but it also fell to Seton Hall by 15 when Pitino didn’t coach due to COVID-19.

The Red Storm ended their slide in last Wednesday’s 70-50 dismantling of Villanova as 3.5-point favorites. St. John’s hadn’t allowed fewer than 65 points in any conference game before limiting the Wildcats to 4-of-25 shooting from 3-point range.

Joel Soriano rebounded from a pair of low-scoring games against Marquette and Seton Hall to post 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the floor in the Villanova win.

Former Penn standout Jordan Dingle returned from a two-game absence to record his first double-digit scoring game in Big East play with 12 points against the Wildcats, although he failed to make a 3-pointer in five attempts.

The biggest key to St. John’s success is its 3-point defense, which ranks first in the Big East at 26.7%.

In the first matchup with Xavier to open conference play on Dec. 20, the Red Storm rolled past the Musketeers, 81-66, as five-point home favorites.

St. John’s exacted revenge after losing twice to Xavier last season. With the Johnnies leading from start to finish, the Musketeers converted on 4-of-21 attempts from downtown.

However, the Red Storm need to fix their road woes in the conference. They sit at just 1-3 in the Big East with their lone victory coming over Villanova in Philadelphia in early January.

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Last season, Xavier lost only five Big East games and 10 games overall while making a trip to the Sweet 16. This season, the Musketeers have already reached their loss output from last season both in conference play and overall.

The good news for Sean Miller’s team is four of the five conference losses came away from Cincinnati, with the lone defeat coming to top-ranked UConn in an 80-75 setback.

The bad news for the Musketeers is that they're limping into this matchup after getting boat-raced by UConn in Storrs on Sunday, 99-56. Despite receiving 11.5 points on the spread, Xavier trailed, 38-9, in the first half.

The Huskies couldn’t miss, especially from 3-point range, hitting 17-of-29 shots from deep. The Musketeers converted only 35% of their 2-point tries and allowed 85 points or more for the third straight game.

Xavier has faced the toughest schedule in Big East play through nine games but somehow has picked up three wins by double digits. Its closest margin of victory was a one-point win over 1-8 Georgetown, but Xavier ripped Seton Hall by 20, Providence by 20 on the road and Butler by 14 at home.

Top scorer Quincy Olivari (17.8 PPG) hasn't reached his scoring average in four of the last five games. However, Olivari’s best games in conference play have come at home, as he scored 29 points against Seton Hall, 24 against UConn and 27 against Georgetown.

At home, Olivari is averaging 23.7 points per game in Big East play, but that number drops to 12.2 on the road. He posted 13 against St. John’s in the first matchup at Carnesecca Arena.

It's hard to ignore the Red Storm's road struggles and Xavier's ability to step up at home. Plus, Olivari's scoring impact has been huge when the Musketeers take the floor at the Cintas Center.

Not a lot of things will get a team more motivated than losing by 43 points to the top-ranked team in the country. Add in the fact that Xavier is looking for revenge after losing to the Johnnies earlier this season, and I'll ride with the Musketeers.

Pick: Xavier -1 (Play to -2)