St. John’s vs. Dayton Odds, Pick | College Basketball Betting Guide (Friday, Nov. 17)

St. John’s and Dayton square off in the semifinals of the Charleston Classic on Friday.

Below, we have St. John’s vs. Dayton odds and a pick, including a college basketball betting guide for Friday, Nov. 17.

St. John's hasn't won anything of substance since 2000, which is the last year the program was victorious in the NCAA tournament.

Expectations have been high in Queens for years due to the consistent amount of talent on the rosters (think Steve Lavin's teams), but this year felt different for the program.

The Johnnies received a lot of buzz this offseason after the hiring of Rick Pitino, yet expectations look to be a tad high for this group at the moment.

With Joel Soriano as the lone returning player from last season’s team, it’s obvious chemistry is still an issue for the Red Storm. Maybe as the season goes along they’ll improve, but as of this point, the Johnnies are struggling massively on defense (80th in KenPom AdjD) and have shown spurts of sloppiness on offense.

The Red Storm gave up 74 points to Stony Brook in their opener, were crushed by Michigan despite being a three-point favorite and played an ugly game against North Texas in the first round of the Charleston Classic.

Soriano is the leader of this roster, but he’s playing through multiple injuries. Meanwhile, Penn transfer Jordan Dingle scored just two points vs. the Mean Green.

Daniss Jenkins and Chris Ledlum have shown flashes, but the former had five turnovers in the win on Thursday.

Remember, some of these transfers are playing up a level, so the Johnnies need reps and more experience together. This tournament is a perfect opportunity for that before Big East play.

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It’s almost deja vu for Dayton right now, as the Flyers lost one of their best players — Malachi Smith — to a knee injury. That puts even more pressure on junior DaRon Holmes II, who will likely face more double teams and attention than ever.

The Flyers won their opening-round Charleston Classic matchup, though, topping LSU by three thanks to 19 points from Nate Santos and 16 points from Javon Bennett.

But is that a sign of things to come, or does it reflect more on LSU, a team that lost to Nicholls at home?

Anthony Grant has certainly been around the block, but the Flyers’ results last year after losing Smith don’t foreshadow good things to come for this group.

On the flip side, though, the Flyers were competitive against Northwestern, losing by just five in Evanston.

Ultimately, the Flyers’ season will likely be decided by how good Holmes performs and if the guards (Enoch Cheeks, Kobe Elvis and Bennett) can make up some of the production lost when Smith went down for the year.

For full transparency, I went to school at St. John's. However, being realistic about the program and fading the Johnnies over the years has been profitable for me.

This spot is different.

While St. John’s hasn’t performed up to expectations so far this season, I trust its guards over Dayton’s. And while Holmes likely has the upper hand over a banged up Soriano, the Johnnies have been strong enough on the offensive glass to counteract Holmes’ offensive production.

The Johnnies have been overvalued in the betting market to start this season due to media attention from Pitino, but I’ll back them on the moneyline in this spot.

Expect this under-the-radar semifinal game to be neck-and-neck.

Pick: St. John's -110

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