The Ole Miss Rebels take on the St. John's Red Storm in New York, NY. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. ET on Peacock.
St. John's is favored by -12 points on the spread with a moneyline of -850. The total is set at 154 points.
Here’s my Ole Miss vs. St. John's predictions and college basketball picks for December 6, 2025.
Ole Miss vs St. John's Prediction
My Pick: St John's -11.5 (play to -13)
My Ole Miss vs St. John's best bet is on St John's -11.5 (play to -13). For all of your college basketball bets, be sure to find the best lines by using our live NCAAB odds page.
Ole Miss vs. St. John's Odds
| Ole Miss Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+12 -105 | 154 -115o / -105u | +550 |
| St. John's Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-12 -115 | 154 -115o / -105u | -850 |
- Ole Miss vs St. John's spread: Ole Miss +12 (-105), St. John's -12 (-115)
- Ole Miss vs St. John's over/under: 154 (O -115 / U -105)
- Ole Miss vs St. John's moneyline: Ole Miss +550, St. John's -850
Ole Miss vs St. John's College Basketball Betting Preview
Ole Miss Basketball
It seems like Ole Miss has reached a crossroads in year three of the Chris Beard era. The Rebels are in the midst of a three-game losing streak — with a blowout home loss to Miami and a pair of MTE losses to Utah and Iowa.
Ole Miss has been a total trainwreck on the defensive end. That's not the usual for a Chris Beard-coached team. The Rebels are 72nd in KenPom's defensive efficiency, but 132nd in Torvik if you remove the preseason bias.
I'll add some positivity here: Ole Miss holds teams to 46% shooting from inside the arc, which ranks 62nd nationally. On the flip side, it ranks 232nd in three-point field goal defense. I'd rather have a team struggle to defend the arc than defend the rim. That feels fixable because it can be for myriad reasons. Some of it can be communication in ball screens, some of it can be teams hitting tough shots. I'll lean into Beard and Mark Adams getting this defense on track.
The Rebels' offense is very perimeter-oriented. They shoot just 50% from inside the arc, which ranks 226th nationally.
A lot falls on the plate of guards AJ Storr and Ilias Kamardine. It does feel like dysfunction follows Storr, a former Johnnie, who's on his fourth school in four seasons. He's shot it well this year and leads Ole Miss with 13.8 ppg, but he's a woeful defender. Kamardine struggled against two tough defensive teams in Iowa and Miami. He's at his best when he can operate in pick & rolls and not deal with physical defenders.
Coach Beard is in desperate need of a fourth scorer to help Storr, Kamardine, and Malik Dia. Nobody else on the Ole Miss roster averages more than 8 ppg. It'll need to find someone who can step up.
St. John's Basketball
St John's took a break after the Players Era Festival to rest after going 1-2 with losses to Auburn and Iowa State.
The Johnnies want to batter teams with their dominant bigs, Zuby Ejiofor and Bryce Hopkins. That pair could dominate here. Ejiofor and Hopkins are built to use their strength and skill to overpower smaller opponents. The Rebels have a lot of bigs, but James Scott is giving up 20+ pounds to Ejiofor, and Dia is a poor defender.
I know I talked about Ole Miss doing a good job defending inside-the-arc. But context is needed. The Rebels struggled to contain Malik Reneau and Shelton Henderson in the Miami game. Ole Miss could really struggle to contain the sport's most dominant interior partnership.
St John's excels at getting to the foul line, posting a 45% free-throw rate. It also shoots 56% from two and grabs offensive boards on 39% of misses. If Ole Miss doesn't come ready for a fist fight with the Johnnies, they'll get knocked out.
I'm still not sold on St John's guard play, but it might not matter here. Ole Miss forces turnovers just 18% of the time, and they don't have the personnel to push the tempo and test the Johnnies' point guard play.
Pitino would be wise to throw the versatile chess piece Dillon Mitchell on Kamardine. He's bigger than the French point guard and can make life very difficult for him and put Ole Miss in a tough spot offensively.
Ole Miss vs. St. John's Betting Analysis
St John's is 52nd in adjusted tempo, per KenPom, compared to Ole Miss's 312th ranking. The Johnnies have the personnel and tempo to make a team like Ole Miss uncomfortable and blow them out. That's why I feel good about taking the Johnnies -11.5.
My Pick: St John's -11.5 (play to -13)
