Marquette vs. St. John's odds, picks and predictions
The No. 5 seed Golden Eagles dispatched fourth-seeded Xavier Thursday in a tight 89-87 win as G Kam Jones scored a team-high 28 points to go along with 5 assists. G's Stevie Mitchell and Chase Ross chipped in with 16 points apiece. Marquette came up short as a 2.5-point favorite with the Over (145) easily hitting.
The win snapped a 2-game skid, which included an 86-84 OT loss in Milwaukee to St. John's in the regular-season finale Saturday. The Golden Eagles misfired as 4.5-point favorites with the Over (146.5) cashing. In fact, despite the win vs. Xavier, Marquette is 5-6 straight up (SU) and an even-worse 3-8 against the spread (ATS) in the past 11 games — the span includes 2 losses to St. John's.
The top-seeded Red Storm easily brushed past ninth-seeded Butler 78-57 as 12-point favorites in their Thursday semifinal with the Under (145.5) coming through. G RJ Luis Jr. had a game-best 20 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, with 7 rebounds, a block and a steal.
St. John's enters on a 7-game win streak and are 5-1 ATS in the past 6, while the Under is 3-1 in the past 4.
The other Big East semi features No. 2 seed Creighton (23-9) and No. 3 seed and 2-time defending NCAA Tourney champ UConn (23-9).
– Rankings: USA TODAY Sports Men's Basketball Coaches Poll
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Marquette vs. St. John's odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 2:34 p.m. ET.
Moneyline (ML) : Marquette +165 (bet $100 to win $165) | St. John's -200 (bet $200 to win $100)
: Marquette +165 (bet $100 to win $165) | St. John's -200 (bet $200 to win $100) Against the spread : Marquette +4.5 (-110) | St. John's -4.5 (-110)
: Marquette +4.5 (-110) | St. John's -4.5 (-110) Over/Under (O/U): 143.5 (O: -115 | U: -105)
Marquette vs. St. John's picks and predictions
Prediction
St. John's 77, Marquette 69
St. John's (-200) will set you back 2 times your potential return. That's quite a bit of risk for not nearly enough reward … at least straight up. However, if you want to toss this into a multi-leg parlay, that would be perfectly acceptable.
PASS.
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ST. JOHN'S -4.5 (-110) is worth playing. The Johnnies not only swept the regular-season series against the Golden Eagles, but they covered each of the outings as well.
The old adage about how it's tough to beat a team 3 times in the same season might give bettors pause. However, Marquette has also failed to cover 3 in a row and, as mentioned, is just 3-8 ATS in the past 11 games. St. John's is just playing better, and should give bettors the most confidence in covering.
OVER 143.5 (-115) is the lean, but only go with a half-unit play at most.
The Under (147) cashed in the 70-64 regulation win by St. John's over Marquette in NYC Feb. 4, while Saturday's tilt went Over in Milwaukee — it hit in regulation but barely as it was tied 75-all after 40 minutes.
The Under is 3-1 in the past 4 games for the Johnnies, while holding a 10-5 edge in the past 15 games.
The Under has a slight 3-2 edge in the past 5 games for the Golden Eagles, while going 9-6 in the past 15 outings.
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