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Despite beating St. John’s by 23 in January, the Creighton Bluejays find themselves as five-point underdogs at the NCAAB odds. Can the St. John’s Red Storm find a way to cover the multiple possession spread? Here is all you need to know for your college basketball picks.
Creighton Bluejays vs. St. John’s Red Storm
Wednesday, February 23, 2022 – 06:30 PM EST at Carnesecca Arena
Betting Preview
The Creighton Bluejays will head out on the road to take on the St. John’s Red Storm in an exciting Big East battle.
Earlier this season, Creighton dominated St. John’s, 87-64. In that game, St. John’ was held to 44% inside, 25% from outside, and only hit 41.7% of foul shots. At home, the expectation is that we see some higher numbers, but ultimately, Creighton affected some of these shots on the defensive end.
Meanwhile, Creighton shot nearly 52% from deep in that game and over 48% from inside the arc.
That’s significant because St. John’s has allowed opponents to shoot close to 36% from downtown this season. The defense is able to earn 22% turnovers but ultimately, has struggled on the defensive glass and will have a hard time trying to defend Creighton inside, despite allowing teams to shoot just 45.6% from inside the arc.
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The Bluejays are shooting an effective field goal percentage of 51.4% while earning 29.4% offensive rebounds. From long-range, Creighton has only hit 31.4% of threes, but the Bluejays won’t shy away from taking those shots. Against St. John’s, there should be plenty of quality looks from long range to go around and those shots will be good.
Inside, Creighton has hit 54.1% and has been terrific around the rim. Plus, despite not getting to the line at a high rate, St. John’s is an aggressive group and will more than likely send Creighton to the line at a higher rate in this one.
On the other hand, St. John’s limits turnovers and should earn some offensive rebounds as well. However, the Red Storm shoot under 34% from three and 51% from inside the arc.
If you think it’s hard to score against St. John’s inside the arc, check this out. Creighton is holding opponents to a 43.2% rate inside the arc this season, which is a top-10 rate in college basketball. The Bluejays have also limited foul shots at a very high rate this year and should be able to keep the Red Storm away from the line at a high rate knowing that the Johnnies don’t really get to the line much either.
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Prediction
The Bluejays are currently on a five-game winning streak and just knocked off Marquette at home. Meanwhile, St. John’s is on a two-game winning streak after a road win against Xavier and a massive showing against Butler. But the Red Storm is still under .500 in league play and three of its last four wins came against Butler and Georgetown, who are both ranked near the bottom of the league via KenPom.
Creighton’s only area that could hurt them is turnovers. Other than that, Creighton should win the rebounding battle, play better defense and shoot at a higher rate, especially from downtown. And yet, Creighton is a 5-point underdog on the road for the top-rated sportsbooks, despite beating this same team by 23 points in January.
NCAAB Pick: Creighton +5 (-110) at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.