Two of the top teams in the Big East face off as Creighton hosts St. John's. It is time to continue our College Basketball odds series with a St. John's-Creighton prediction, pick, and how-to-watch.
St. John's enters the game sitting at 12-4 on the year. After a rough start, going 2-2 with losses to Michigan and Dayton, they went on a five-game winning streak before a loss to Boston College. Since then, the only loss has been to a highly-ranked UCONN team, as they have beaten both Villanova and Providence in the last two games. The game with Providence was close, as they held off a late surge from Providence to win 75-73.
Meanwhile, Creighton is 12-4 on the year as well, but they are 3-2 in conference play so far this year. They depend on conference play with back-to-back close losses, falling to Villanova by two, and Marquette by five. Since then, they have won three straight, including knocking off Providence by nine.
Here are the college basketball odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
College Basketball Odds: St. John's-Creighton Odds
St. John's: +8.5 (-105)
Moneyline: +315
Creighton: -8.5 (-115)
Moneyline: -410
Over: 151.5 (-110)
Under: 151.5 (-110)
How to Watch St. John's vs. Creighton
Time: 1:00 PM ET/ 10:00 AM PT
TV: FOX
Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)
Why St. John's Will Cover The Spread
St. John's ranks 35th in KenPom's adjusted efficiency rankings this year, sitting 30th on the offensive side and 62nd on the defensive side of the adjusted efficiency rankings. St. John's is 50th in the nation in points per game this year, while sitting tenth in field goal attempts per game this year, and 25th in field goals made per game. Joel Soriano leads the team on offense this year. He is averaging 17.3 points per game this year, while also shooting 64.8 percent on the season. Further, the big man can shoot from outside too. He has hit seven of his 11 threes this year. He gets help from Daniss Jenkins. Jenkins comes into the game with 13.0 points per game this year. Further, he moves the ball well. He leads the team with 6.1 assists per game on the season.
St. John's has been solid in rebounding, sitting 11th in the nation in total rebounds as well this year. They are fourth in the nation in offensive rebounding. This is another area where Soriano has been great. He comes in with 10.1 rebounds per game on the year, with four rebounds per game on the offensive side of the ball. He is helped out by Chris Ledlum, who comes away with 7.9 rebounds per game this year, while also scoring 10.4 points per game Like Soriano, over a third of his rebounds come on the offense end of the floor.
The St. John's defense sits 120th in points against per game this year. RJ Luis has been solid on defense this year. He comes in with 2.0 steals per game this year. Further. Joel Sorian has been a presence down low, with 1.9 blocks per game on the year.
Why Creighton Will Cover The Spread
Creighton is 13th this year in KenPoms adjusted efficiency rankings and sports a balanced offensive and defensive approach. They are 15th in adjusted offensive efficiency while sitting 16th in adjusted defensive efficiency this year. Creighton is 38th in the nation in points per game this year, while sitting fourth in effective field goal percentage. Baylor Scheierman leads the way this year. He comes into the game with 18.1 points per game this year. Further, he has 4.1 assists per game. He is one of three guys averaging over 15 points per game on the season. Trey Alexander comes in with 16.8 points per game and also is dishing the ball well, with 4.5 assists per game. Rounding out the top guys is Ryan Kalkbrenner. He comes in with 15.8 points per game while shooting 64.8 percent from the field this year.
Creighton comes in ranked 29th in the nation in rebounds per game on the year and first in the nation in defensive rebounding. This is led by Scheierman and Kalkbrenner as well. Schneiderman comes into the game with 8.1 rebounds per game this year, while Kalkbrenner comes in with 7.3 rebounds per game. Trey Alexander has been solid as well, with 6.2 rebounds per game on the year.
Creighton is 41st in the nation in points against per game this year, while sitting 16th in the nation in opponent effective field goal percentage. One of the big helps is Kalkbrenner. He comes into the game with 2.4 blocks per game, while consistently forcing bad shots down low.
Final St. John's-Creighton Prediction & Pick
Both of these offenses are solid, and both have good scoring options. The scoring options for Creighton are better though. They can score both inside with Kalkbrenner, and outside with Scheierman. Further, while Creighton will have some trouble with St. John's offensive rebounding, the edge in that battle goes to Kalkbrenner and Creighton as well. St. John's has to play on the inside and is not able to push the ball outside as well. This is somewhere that Creighton thrives. That will be the difference in this game. Expect a higher-scoring game, with Creighton coming out on top.
Final St. John's-Creighton Prediction & Pick: Creighton -8.5 (-115) and Over 151.5 (-110)
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