The St. John's Red Storm host the Xavier Musketeers at Carnesecca Arena on Thursday in Big East play. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET and the Red Storm are favored by 5.5, with the total at 146.5 points in the latest St. John's vs. Xavier odds. The two sides have both had their ups and downs this year, with St. John's at 20-8 on the season and 8-7 in conference play, while Xavier sports a 15-13 overall record and is 7-8 in the Big East. But before you make your St. John's vs. Xavier picks, be sure to check out the college basketball predictions from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
This model, which simulates every game 10,000 times, has raked in the winnings for those following its picks. Over the past two years, the SportsLine Projection Model has returned nearly $4,200 to $100 players on its top-rated college basketball picks. It also entered Week 17 of the 2018-19 college basketball season on a blistering 107-79 run against the spread. Anyone who has followed it is way up.
Now, the model has simulated St. John's vs. Xavier 10,000 times. We can tell you it is leaning over, and it has a strong pick against the spread, saying one side hits in well over 50 percent of simulations. You can only see that pick at SportsLine.
The model knows that one advantage for St. John's should be the way it values possessions. The Red Storm only turn the ball over on 14.6 percent of their possessions and are going up against an Xavier team that forces turnovers on just 16.9 percent of their defensive possessions. On the other end of the floor, St. John's defense ranks in the top 15 percent in the country by forcing turnovers on 21.2 percent of possessions.
Shamorie Ponds and L.J. Figueroa are two of the best rip-and-run specialists in college basketball, with Ponds averaging 2.7 steals per game and Figueroa averaging 2.0. If they can help St. John's dominate the turnover battle on Thursday, it will go a long way towards covering.
But just because the Red Storm feature a ferocious defense doesn't mean they'll cover the St John's vs. Xavier spread.
The Musketeers have a fairly prohibitive size advantage over the Red Storm and will be looking to use that to their advantage on both the offensive and defensive glass. St. John's is 341st in the country in offensive rebounding percentage and 184th in defensive rebounding percentage, so they're prone to getting hammered on the boards.
Look for Xavier's frontcourt of Naji Marshall, Tyrique Jones, and Zach Hankins to play a major role in crashing the glass on both ends. They go 6-foot-7, 6-foot-9, and 6-foot-11, respectively, while Sedee Keita is the only player in the St. John's rotation who is taller than 6-foot-7.
Who wins St. John's vs. Xavier? And which side of the spread cashes in well over 50 percent of simulations? Visit SportsLine now to find out which side of the spread you should be all over, all from the model that has returned more than $4,000 to $100 players the last two years.
