Editor's note: This game was postponed after the publication of the article. The schools will attempt to reschedule at a later date.
Two Big East hopefuls will square off on Thursday when the Butler Bulldogs face the St. John’s Red Storm. Both teams have had their fair share of losses during non-conference play, but either can walk out of tonight’s game with the right foot forward in the Big East.
Continue reading for our free college basketball betting picks and predictions for Butler vs. St. John’s on Thursday, December 23.
Butler vs St. John’s odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
The spread opened with St. John’s as a 6-point favorite and the number has yet to stray more than a point. The total has similarly stayed close to the 135 opener.
Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right up until tip-off and be sure to check out the full college basketball odds before placing your bets.
Butler vs St. John’s predictions
Predictions made on 12/23/2021 at 12:53 p.m. ET.
Click on each prediction to jump to the full analysis.
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Butler vs St. John’s game info
• Location: Carnesecca Arena, New York City, NY
• Date: Thursday, December 23, 2021
• Tip-off: 6:30 p.m. ET
• TV: Fox Sports 1
Butler at St. John’s betting preview
Injuries
Butler: Chuck Harris G (Questionable).
St. Johns: Julian Champagnie G (Questionable), Joel Soriano F (Out), Tareq Coburn G (Out).
Find our latest NCAA basketball injury reports.
Betting trend to know
Butler has gone Under the total in nine of their 11 games this season. Find more NCAA betting trends for Butler vs. St. Johns.
Butler vs St. John’s picks and predictions
Our predictions are compiled from the analysis of the spread and total and are indications of where we are leaning for this game.
Our best bet is the play that we like the most for this game, which we would actually put some of our bankroll behind.
Spread analysis
Something’s got to give. That phrase is typically used to suggest that two quality forces are in opposition and one will need to budge. Under a betting lens, that is far from the case in this affair between Butler and St. John’s. Butler is 3-8 against the spread this season and St. John’s is also 3-8 ATS (and 1-8 in their last nine).
In Butler’s five games against Top-100 teams, according to KenPom efficiency rankings, they’ve lost four. Granted, three of those four losses came against Purdue (3rd), Houston (4th), and Michigan State (17th), but they lost those games by an average of 22 points. A quick glance at their team stats might generate optimism between their rank in points allowed (33rd) or rebounds surrendered (36th) but those are merely a result of their pace, ranking 13th slowest in the nation.
Conversely, St. John’s ranks sixth in that regard, and they flash a lot of efficiency with a 30th-ranked field goal percentage. The end result is the 16th highest-scoring team in the nation with a blistering 82.6 PPG. The tempo they play generates an advantage on both sides of the ball, whether it’s their ability to find the open man on offense (4th in assists) or force mistakes on defense (18th in turnovers forced).
The wrinkle to this game is that St. John’s is likely to be without star player Julian Champagnie again, as he is currently out with COVID. The lanky guard uses his freakish length to generate efficient offense (20.3 PPG with shooting splits of 50% / 43% / 75%) and suffocating defense (2.1 steals and 1.5 blocks per game). He’s already shown out against Kansas and Indiana, and tonight would have been no different.
Without him, the team shot just 35% in their last game against Pittsburgh and lost. Tonight might be even more challenging with rotation players Joel Soriano and Tareq Coburn also being placed into COVID protocols. As a result, St. John’s will have just eight scholarship players for tonight’s contest.
Prediction: Butler +5.5 (-110)
Over/Under analysis
Butler has gone Under the total in nine of 11 games, while St. John’s has gone Over the total in seven of 11. This obviously matches their pace profiles rather well, but recent results make this a tougher read. The two games Butler have gone Over have been in their last five games, and St. John’s is coming off back-to-back games of going Under the total.
However, Butler is unlikely to contribute enough to reach this total of 135. They’ve scored more than 70 points just twice this season, and that was against the likes of Central Arkansas and Chaminade (who?). They managed to put up just 68 points against Saginaw Valley (again, who?). In their five games against Top-100 opponents, they’ve averaged 53.6 points.
There’s just too much potential slack for St. John’s to pick up given the roster they have for tonight’s contest.
Prediction: Under 135 (-110)
Best bet
We've come this far without mentioning that Butler’s leading scorer Chuck Harris (11.6 PPG) is questionable for tonight’s game with a non-COVID illness. Even if Harris plays, he simply doesn’t impact the scoring outlook for this game enough to make up for everything else surrounding this total.
Pick: Under 135 (-110)
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Use our college basketball parlay calculator to create your own parlays and see their potential payouts.
