Providence vs St. John’s 1/7/23 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The St. John’s Red Storm and the Providence Friars meet Saturday in college basketball action from Dunkin’ Donuts Center. St. John’s is 11-5 so far this year. The Storm lost to Marquette in their last game. As for Providence, they’re 13-3 overall following an upset win over UConn on Wednesday. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

St. John’s won their first eight games this year before a loss to Iowa State. The Storm would put up three more consecutive wins, then four straight losses to Villanova, Xavier, Seton Hall and Marquette. 

In the Marquette game, the Red Storm were up 48-41 going into the second half. St. John’s faltered on a 55-37 run from there and lost it 96-85. Joel Soriano led the team on a double-double with 22 points and 13 rebounds. 

Over on the Providence side, they went 5-3 over their first eight games, losing to only Miami, Saint Louis and TCU. Since then it’s been wins over Rhode Island, Manhattan, Albany, Seton Hall, Marquette, Butler, DePaul and UConn. 

On Wednesday in the UConn matchup, the Friars took a 33-30 advantage into the break. Providence hit a 40-31 pace in the second half for the upset win 73-61. Bryce Hopkins was the leading team scorer on 27 points. 

PICK: I’m going to stay with Providence. The Friars are on a great run right now and they’re coming off their biggest win of the year over UConn. Providence had a 41-39 rebounding advantage in that one with just nine turnovers. The Friars have scored 71 or more points in all eight games of this current win streak and they’re looking good right now. As for St. John’s, they’ve been a mixed bag lately thanks to some tricky matchups. This will be another one, and if Providence doesn’t have a big-win hangover I think they’ll be fine on a cover.