St. John’s vs Merrimack 11/7/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds
Merrimack Warriors (0-0) vs. St. John's Red Storm (0-0)
November 7, 2022 6:45 pm EDT
The Line: St. John's Red Storm -22 / Merrimack Warriors +22 ; Over/Under: 140
(Get latest betting odds)
The Merrimack Warriors and the St. John’s Red Storm meet Monday in college basketball action from Carnesecca Arena. Merrimack is coming off a 14-16 overall record last year for a fourth-place finish in the Northeast Conference. As for St. John’s, they went 17-15 overall last year, landing in seventh place in the Big East. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Merrimack had their ups and downs in the 2021-22 campaign, finishing 14-16 overall and 10-8 in Northeast Conference games. The Warriors landed in fourth place with that effort, behind Bryant, Wagner and LIU.
The Warriors limped out of non-conference play with a 4-8 record. After losing seven of eight games in January/February, Merrimack finished strong with a 5-1 run. Merrimack was originally slated to face UMBC in the Basketball Classic, but the Retrievers ended up withdrawing.
Over on the St. John’s side, they had trouble making much headway in a top-heavy Big East last season. The Red Storm went 17-15 overall and 8-11 in conference play. That result left St. John’s in seventh place, ahead of only Xavier, Butler, DePaul and Georgetown.
St. John’s came out of non-conference play at 8-3, then hit an inconsistent run the rest of the year. The Storm only won consecutive games twice during conference play. After a win over DePaul in the Big East tourney St. John’s fell to Villanova 66-65 to end the year.
The Warriors are 4-1 ATS in their last five road games and the over is 9-3 in their last 12 overall. St. John’s is 5-1 ATS in their last six at home and 9-3 ATS in their last 12 overall.
PICK: I’m probably staying with St. John’s here. The big loss for the Storm coming into the 2022-23 season is Julian Champagnie, who declared for the NBA Draft. Outside of that, there’s only one 10-plus game starter (Aaron Wheeler) gone from last year. Posh Alexander (13.8 PPG) is back for another year, as is Joel Soriano (5.5 RPG). That roster familiarity should go a long way in the early-going this season, and I think St. John’s will start strong.
