The Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens and the St. John’s Red Storm meet Saturday in college basketball action from Carnesecca Arena. Here’s a St. John’s vs Delaware prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best St. John’s vs Delaware pick.
Delaware Blue Hens Betting Preview
Delaware lost three of their first five games to Bucknell, Bryant and Vermont. The Hens are 5-2 since then with wins over Yale, Rider, Delaware State, Chestnut Hill and Misericordia in that time, however.
Matched up against Saint Peter’s on December 20, the Hens came out of the break on a 34-33 deficit. Delaware was outscored 38-31 the rest of the way in a 72-64 defeat. Niels Lane was the leading team scorer on 20 points and four boards.
St. John’s Red Storm Betting Preview
Over on the St. John’s side, they lost to only Baylor and Georgia during their first seven games of the season. The Red Storm has since won five straight over Harvard, Kansas State, Bryant, DePaul and Providence.
In the matchup with the Friars last Friday, the Red Storm was in trouble with a 42-29 deficit by halftime. St. John’s “stormed” back on a 43-28 run from there in a 72-70 win. Zuby Ejiofor was the top contributor with his 19 points and 10 boards for a double-double.
Why the St. John’s Red Storm will win
- St. John’s has won each of its last 36 night games against non-Conference opponents at Carnesecca Arena.
- St. John’s has won the first half in each of its last 15 night games at Carnesecca Arena against non-AP-ranked opponents.
Why the Delaware Blue Hens will win
- Delaware has won the first half in six of its last seven games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
St. John’s vs Delaware Prediction
I’ll stick with St. John’s. The Storm had a bad first half in their latest win over Providence, eventually shooting just 39.7 percent from the field and 16.7 percent (3-of-18) from 3-point range. St. John’s got 19 points off 17 Friars turnovers however, and turned in a great finish. That makes 72 or more points in five straight games (all wins) for the Storm.
As for Delaware, they were out-rebounded 36-25 in the St. Peter’s game and lost steam in the second half. Aside from a couple of relatively easy wins versus overmatched competition, the Hens haven’t played great this month. This one’s going to be another tough matchup and I don’t think Delaware will be able to hang around cover-wise.