Providence Friars (11-4) vs. St. John's Red Storm (11-4)
January 10, 2024 6:30 pm EDT
The Line: St. John's Red Storm -7 ; Over/Under: 143
(Get latest betting odds)
The Providence Friars and the St. John’s Red Storm meet Wednesday in college basketball action from Madison Square Garden. Providence is currently 11-4 overall. The Friars lost to Creighton in their latest outing. As for St. John’s, they’re coming off a win over Villanova that improved the Storm to 11-4 this year. Let’s get into our Providence vs. St. John’s prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Providence Friars
The Friars only lost two games in their first 13 outings, otherwise taking out Columbia, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Georgia, Lehigh, Wagner, Rhode Island, Brown, Sacred Heart, Marquette and Butler. Since then it’s been consecutive losses to Seton Hall and Creighton, however.
In the loss to Creighton on Saturday, the Friars posted a seven-point deficit in the first half. Providence didn’t end up getting any closer than that, eventually falling 69-60. Leading the team along the way was Devin Carter, who doubled up on 25 points and 10 rebounds with three assists.
St. John’s Red Storm
Over on the St. John’s side, they managed to go 8-4 over their first 12 games. The wins came versus Stony Brook, North Texas, Utah, Holy Cross, West Virginia, Sacred Heart, Fordham and Xavier. Since their last loss to UConn, the Storm have beaten Hofstra, Butler and Villanova in succession.
Matched up against Villanova over the weekend, the Red Storm got off to a good start with a 34-28 edge in the first half. St. John’s kept it up with 47 more points from there and won 81-71. Topping the team in scoring was Joel Soriano on 20 points, eight rebounds and three assists in the victory.
ANDREW’S FREE PROVIDENCE VS ST. JOHN’S PREDICTION
I’ll probably just stay with St. John’s. The Red Storm are playing pretty well right now and coming off a good win over a decent Villanova team. St. John’s shot 47.5 percent from the floor and 43.8 percent from 3-point range in that one alongside 39 rebounds and 16 team assists. Over three straight games, St. John’s has notched 81 or more points in each.
As for Providence, they’ve been pretty flat over the past couple of games. To be fair however, the Friars have played some tricky teams in Seton Hall and Creighton, and only given up a combined 117 points in that pair. Still, I don’t think the Friars will have enough gas to keep pace with St. John’s cover-wise.
