St. John's vs DePaul Big East Tournament Picks and Predictions: Don't Doubt DePaul at MSG

The second game of the Big East triple-header will feature DePaul taking on St. John’s. The St. John’s Red Storm will practically be playing a home game, in Madison Square Garden, as the 7-seed. Meanwhile, DePaul will come into this game as a 10-seed, but won’t be an automatic out. DePaul defeated St. John’s at home, 99-94 on February 27 but also lost to St. John’s, 89-84 back on January 5 on the road.

It’s likely that we see a high score in this game. But how high of a score should we expect? Here are our college basketball picks and predictions for the Big East matchup between the DePaul Blue Demons and the St. John’s Red Storm.

St. John's vs DePaul odds

This odds widget represents the best odds available for each betting market from regulated sportsbooks.

St. John’s opened as a 5.5 point favorite but is starting to trend down to -5 at some outlets. The total opened at 155 but has already dropped to as low as 153.5 at a few sportsbooks.

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.

St. John's vs DePaul predictions

• Prediction: DePaul +5.5 (-110)
• Prediction: Over 153.5 (-110)
• Best bet: DePaul +5.5 (-110)

Predictions made on 3/9/2022 at 7:00 p.m. ET.
Click on each prediction to jump to the full analysis.

St. John's vs DePaul game info

• Location: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
• Date: Wednesday, March-9, 2022
• Tip-off: 7:00 p.m. ET
• TV: FS1

St. John's at DePaul betting preview

Injuries

St. John's: Javan Johnson PG (Out).
DePaul: No injuries.

Find our latest NCAA basketball injury reports.

Betting trend to know

Blue Demons are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games overall. Find more NCAA betting trends for St. John's vs. DePaul.

St. John's vs DePaul picks and predictions

Our side and total predictions are based upon our analysis of the line and total in this game. Our best bet is our favorite pick across all markets.

Spread analysis

During the regular season, St. John’s and DePaul scored a lot of points and played a close contest in each game. You should expect the same in this one.

The Blue Demons are hitting just 32.1% from three and 49% from inside the arc, however, DePaul also limits turnovers, earns a ton of offensive rebounds, and gets to the line at a very high rate. DePaul is currently earning 31.9% offensive rebounds and should have success on the glass knowing that St. John’s is allowing 31.3% offensive rebounds on the defensive end.

The Red Storm are usually earning 21.3% of turnovers per game, but it’s not going to be easy forcing DePaul to turn the ball over. Opponents are shooting 34.7% from deep against St. John’s but just 47.2% from inside the arc. With DePaul struggling from three, St. John’s figures to get some stops from long-range. It’s just a question on whether or not St. John’s can limit second chances.

On the other hand, St. John’s is shooting 33.9% from deep and 50.6% from inside the arc. Just like DePaul, St. John’s rarely turns the ball over and also dominates the offensive glass with 31% of offensive rebounds. However, St. John’s rarely gets to the line and DePaul more than likely will keep St. John’s from getting to the line at a high rate. DePaul is currently holding teams to 33.7% from downtown and 47.4% from inside the arc.

The Blue Demons, again, limit foul shot attempts and St. John’s doesn’t really get to the line at a great rate, to begin with. Therefore, I like DePaul to stick around in this game. The Blue Demons will get to the line more and likely earn more second chances. The turnovers will remain the same and even if St. John’s shoots a higher percentage, DePaul could still have more makes.

Prediction: DePaul +5.5 (-110)

Over/Under analysis

Both teams have reached at least 80 points in each of the two games between those two teams. Nothing should change. Both offenses are very good at scoring and St. John’s is currently first in the nation in the pace of play, using just 14.5 seconds per possession this season. We will see many shot attempts, a ton of second chances, and a limited amount of turnovers.

Sometimes turnovers are good to get points in the fastbreak, but most of the time, you want to limit turnovers to make sure you get shot attempts up. We’ll get the best of both worlds there.

Prediction: Over 153.5 (-110)

Best bet

I’ll grab DePaul at +5.5 in this one. This game should be back and forth throughout the game with a punch from each team here and there. DePaul figures to earn more second chances and ultimately should be able to get to the line more frequently. This is more of an even game than oddsmakers are letting on. DePaul just needs to play a bit relaxed and refrain from putting up bad shots that can get rejected. St. John’s lives off of forcing its opponents into bad shots that can be blocked. But if DePaul remains patient enough, I like it to cover.

I’ll take the +5.5 with DePaul and hope that the Blue Demons can either win outright or hold on in this fast-paced game.

Pick: DePaul +5.5 (-110)

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