The St. John’s Red Storm and the Marquette Golden Eagles meet Wednesday in college basketball action from Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. Here’s a Marquette vs St. John’s prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Marquette vs St. John’s pick.
St. John’s Red Storm Betting Preview
The Storm got off to a 7-3 start over their first 10 games this year, then hit a 2-2 run with losses to Kentucky and Providence. After that came a nice win streak. St. John’s has taken wins over Butler, Creighton, Marquette, Villanova, Seton Hall, Xavier, Butler, DePaul, UConn, Xavier and Providence in succession since then. Over the first 25 games of the season that gives the Storm a 20-5 run.
In the Providence matchup on Saturday the Red Storm exited the floor after the first half with a 34-29 advantage. St. John’s closed out the game on a 45-40 run and emerged victorious in a road matchup 79-69 as things finished up. Dylan Darling was tops on 23 points with eight rebounds while Zuby Ejiofor had 14 points with four boards and three assists. Oziyah Sellers chipped in 11 points as well.
Marquette Golden Eagles Betting Preview
Over on the Marquette side, they were just 6-10 over their first 16 games this year. Losses to Villanova, St. John’s and DePaul came next, then a 3-2 run over the next five games. Those wins were over Providence, Creighton and Butler among losses to Butler and Seton Hall. It’s been a pair of losses since then versus Villanova and Xavier. That gives the Golden Eagles a 9-17 record in their first 26 outings of the year.
Over the weekend in the Xavier game the Golden Eagles were sitting in the locker room at halftime with a 51-35 deficit. Marquette came back on a 53-45 run in the second half but it wasn’t enough to mount a comeback in a 96-88 loss on the road. Nigel James was the team’s top scorer with 30 points, 12 assists and four rebounds while Royce Parham added 24 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double.
Why the Marquette Golden Eagles will win
- The home team has won each of Marquette’s last nine games.
- St. John’s has lost three of its last four games at Fiserv Forum.
- The home team has won the first half in six of Marquette’s last seven games.
Why the St. John’s Red Storm will win
- St. John’s has won each of its last 20 night games.
- Marquette has lost each of its last six games against AP-ranked opponents.
- St. John’s has won the first half in 11 of its last 12 games as an AP-ranked team against a non-AP-ranked team.
Marquette vs St. John’s Prediction
I’ll stick with St. John’s. The Storm rolled past a middling Providence team in a road victory last weekend despite hitting only 38.2 percent from the field alongside a 40-36 deficit on the boards. St. John’s led the Friars to just 33.3 percent shooting on defense though, and did a decent job at the line on 70 percent (21-of-30). The Storm have won 11 straight games now, and they’ve scored 79 or more points in five of the last six.
These teams last met up in a 92-68 home win for the Storm back on January 13. In that game St. John’s shot a very nice 50.8 percent from the field with 87.5 percent (21-of-24) at the line and a 36-22 rebounding advantage. The Eagles shot well themselves (46.9 percent) but had 19 turnovers along the way. The Storm can’t rely on mistakes in the road rematch, so I’d like to see that defense tighten up shooting-percentage-wise.