St. John's Might Just Be The Better Team In This Matchup

St. John's vs. UConn, 7:00 ET

Whenever I get a game wrong, especially in college basketball, I do take some notes. I usually try and figure out what I did wrong and try to correct it. There is a delicate line between correcting and overcorrecting things, though. Sometimes you have a tendency (especially if a team loses by a lot) to completely change the course. I bet on this very matchup the first time that St. John's and UConn squared off, and took an L. I'm looking to avenge that based on some of the things I learned from last time.

St. John's was highly regarded coming into the season, and after a bit of a rocky start, they have found their footing. They are 22-5 and are 15-1 in the Big East with a #15 ranking at the moment. The Red Storm, ahem, have weathered the storm, and found themselves back in the conversation as one of the best teams in the nation. I really don't think this should be a surprise to anyone, but there is some credit that needs to be given to the team. Some of these squads struggle early and never put it together. Rick Pitino, their head coach, has done an admirable job of getting everything to fire on all cylinders. They were just 9-5 on January 3rd, and now have won 13 straight games. Their losses weren't necessarily bad - seven points at home to Alabama early in the year, one point on a neutral court to Iowa State, losing by 11 to Auburn on a neutral site, and dropping a game by 12 to Kentucky on a neutral site. However, the one game that does stand out is the loss to Providence 77-71 on their home court. If that was what they needed to turn the season around, though, they will take it. 

Mark Smith-Imagn Images 

What more can you say about UConn? They've won two of the past three National Championships. They are currently 25-3 for the season and 15-2 in the Big East. With all the hoopla around Michigan, Duke, and to a lesser extent, Arizona and Houston, I feel like UConn is a bit forgotten. They will be a major factor in the NCAA Tournament, and not a team anyone would be looking forward to facing. I suppose the one question you could ask of both teams is if they are facing tough competition. UConn has faced seven ranked teams, winning all but two of those games. They lost to Arizona by four points, and then went on the road to St. John's and lost by nine. The Huskies other loss came at the hands of Creighton last week when they lost at home by seven points. While the championship seasons for UConn felt somewhat inevitable. This year's team feels more balanced in talent, but a bit shaky in terms of what we should expect. 

No matter what, this should be a good game. I don't think either team is likely to blow the other out. In the first game, there were some surprises on both sides. UConn hit almost 50% of their three-point attempts. That's unlikely to happen again. St. John's also hit only 26% of theirs, also something that I'd expect to come up to the average. What really stands out is that St. John's shot 19 more free throws, and that UConn was just 5-12 from the line in the first game. That's not ridiculous as they are tied for fifth in the nation at 27.1 per game. UConn also allows 22 free throws per game to opponents, and that number actually increases at home. This is a game you should want the points. I really don't think UConn loses, it is really hard to beat teams twice, and harder to beat a good team twice. However, I'll take the 5.5 points with St. John's as they are hotter, get to the free throw line, and the three-point percentages that kept UConn close should balance in favor of the Red Storm.  

For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on X/Twitter: @futureprez2024