St. John's vs. UConn odds, picks, best bets: College basketball predictions for Wednesday's Big East showdown
The SportsLine Projection Model has its picks for the Big East battle between No. 6 Connecticut and No. 15 St. John's
The St. John's Red Storm sit atop the Big East standings, but the Connecticut Huskies will be looking for revenge in Wednesday night's top-15 showdown in Hartford. UConn (25-3, 15-2) is ranked sixth in the nation, while the Red Storm (22-5, 15-1) are No. 15, but St. John's won the first matchup this season, at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 6. Now the Huskies have the home-court advantage, but they have lost twice in their past five games -- also falling at home to Creighton -- following an 18-game win streak. The Red Storm have won 13 consecutive games, but the Huskies were the only ranked team they faced. UConn has won five of its seven games against ranked opponents, and SJU has won one of four such games.
Tipoff at PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford, Conn., is set for 7 p.m. ET. The Huskies are 5.5-point favorites in the latest St. John's vs. Connecticut odds, and the Over/Under for total points scored is set at 145.5. UConn is the -230 money-line favorite, and the Red Storm are priced at +188.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every college basketball game 10,000 times and it entered Week 17 on a sizzling 11-1 run on its top-rated Over/Under college basketball picks dating back to last season, and is on a 20-11 run on top-rated CBB side picks. Anyone following its college basketball betting advice at sportsbooks and on betting apps could have seen strong returns. Here, we look at the model's best bets for St. John's vs. UConn on Wednesday, with odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook and FanDuel Sportsbook.
Bet on St. John's vs. UConn at Fanduel, where new users get $100 if their first bet of $5+ wins:
St. John's vs. UConn model picks for Feb. 25
Connecticut -5.5
The Huskies are covering this spread 66% of the time. They are outscoring opponents by 13.5 points and while they are 10-18 against the spread this season, they are 5-5 ATS when the spread is in the single digits. The SportsLine Projection Model has a "B" grade on UConn to cover.
Connecticut money line
UConn is winning outright in 80% of the SportsLine model simulations, with the model projecting an 11-point victory. The Huskies are the second-best defensive team in the Big East, allowing 66 points per game. The Red Storm score slightly more points, ranking second in the conference at 83.9 per game while UConn is fourth at 79.2. But the Huskies are home, and the Johnnies had 19 more free throw attempts than the Huskies in the victory three weeks ago.
Over 145.5
The total has gone Over in eight of Connecticut's last nine games, and 10 of the past 14 between the teams have gone Over as well. The SportsLine model has the score coming in just under 150, and Over 145.5 on the consensus line is hitting 58.7% of the time. These teams combine for 163 points per game and the meeting between them in New York came in at 153, an 81-72 Red Storm victory.
