NCAAB Odds, Pick | St. John’s vs UConn Preview

The UConn Huskies' campaign to repeat as national champions was going smoothly until the return of conference play. The Huskies had lost just once, dropping a road game in the near impossible position of playing at Kansas.

The dangers of the Big East take a backseat to no one, striking right away as UConn dropped its conference opener at Seton Hall.

Those dangers continue to lurk, with coaching legend Rick Pitino off to a 1-0 start in Big East play with his St. John's Red Storm.

Below, we have NCAAB odds and a pick, including a St. John's vs. UConn preview.

When St. John's hired Pitino this offseason, the Red Storm harbored hopes of the NCAA tournament in the near future. Maybe the school didn't expect Pitino to march into March in his first year in Queens, but with eight seasons and two coaches since the Red Storm's last game in the Round of 64, the program was hungry for answers.

Through two months, Pitino has St. John's on the right track. Wins over Utah, North Texas and Xavier look strong on the resume, with no losses outside the KenPom top 100.

The Red Storm are playing like a Pitino team defensively. St. John's is aggressive, forcing turnovers and blocked shots, while keeping shooters off the 3-point line.

The offense hasn't been nearly as good. The Red Storm aren't a great bunch of shooters, so they depend on dribble penetration to the rim, yet it's not great to shoot a low rate of 3-pointers while getting to the free-throw line at a bottom-10 rate in the nation.

If there's a saving grace, it's on the offensive glass, where St. John's grabs 43% of its misses, third-best in the country.

The must-have app for college basketball bettors

The best NCAAB betting scoreboard

Free picks from proven pros

Live win probabilities for your bets

DOWNLOAD NOW

Admittedly, I was as shocked by Wednesday's UConn result as anyone. I wrote the preview of its trip to Seton Hall here at Action Network, fully expecting to see UConn cover as eight-point favorites, which couldn't have been more wrong.

After having only lost on the road at Kansas prior, the Huskies fell behind and stayed behind at Seton Hall, losing by 15.

It was a brutal loss, where seemingly nothing could go right. The Huskies shot 4-of-19 from outside the arc, coughed up 17 turnovers and allowed Seton Hall to grab half of its misses.

Worst of all, star center Donovan Clingan suffered an injury that limited him to just 14 minutes against the Pirates. His status is in doubt moving forward, and with a sprained ankle as the diagnosis, he's likely sidelined against the Johnnies.

That's concerning, with backup senior Samson Johnson as the only real depth in the middle. He's averaging two points and two rebounds per game in the Huskies' last five outings.

Connecticut will need to find scoring production elsewhere, which will be more difficult without Clingan's gravity drawing bodies and attention into the paint.

It's near impossible to have imagined UConn dropping its first two Big East games, but playing the second one without Clingan makes that feel a little closer to reality.

Assuming Clingan doesn't play, this game looks a lot scarier for the reining national champions. Against St. John's, defensive rebounding needs to be a major focus.

Facing the Johnnies without your best rebounder is quite the challenge. Joel Soriano, among the national leaders in defensive rebounding, should be in line for a big game.

Asking St. John's to knock off this UConn team on the road, is a lot to expect — even without Clingan — unless the Huskies have an ice-cold shooting night.

After UConn just did so on the road at Seton Hall, I'm not sure I buy it happening again. I'll resist the urge to nibble on the Johnnies moneyline, instead trusting some Pitino magic to keep it within single digits.

Pick: St. John's +10.5 or Better

The new ESPN Sportsbook is now online and you can use Action’s ESPN BET promo code TANBONUS for a new user welcome.