St. John's vs. Indiana Odds
| St. John's Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+6.5 -110 | 148 -113o / -108u | +230 |
| Indiana Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-6.5 -110 | 148 -113o / -108u | +-295 |
Indiana and St. John’s pairing up in the Gavitt Games could be one of the most entertaining matchups on Wednesday night. Both teams have added a plethora of depth via transfer and look to make an NCAA Tournament run and perhaps a run at their respective conferences.
Both teams have an advantage in one department: Indiana on defense, St. John’s with pace. Indiana had a close call in its first game with Eastern Michigan, and Mike Anderson is a great coach. Look for him to make this a much closer game than the spread indicates.
Red Storm Gets Boost From Newcomers
The Red Storm only return three players, but all are crucial: Posh Alexander, Julian Champagnie and Dylan Addae-Wusu. Anderson added plenty of firepower with his high roster turnover otherwise. He acquired the following talent: Montez Mathis (Rutgers), Tareq Coburn (Hofstra), Joel Soriano (Fordham), Aaron Wheeler (Purdue), Stef Smith (Vermont), Rafael Pinzon (freshman), Drissa Traore (freshman) and O’Mar Stanley (freshman). The transfers are the story here. They all add some element in one way or another.
St. John's likes to push the pace, and that starts with Alexander. The Red Storm ranked 10th in adjusted tempo in 2020-21 and only used 15 seconds per possession. They have done the same this year with an extremely efficient offense, but that will likely not stick against a Big Ten opponent. Still, Indiana may not typically turn the ball over very often, but Alexander did average 2.6 steals per game last season. Xavier Johnson has five turnovers so far, too, so this could be an issue.
The offense for the Red Storm runs through post Champagnie. He averaged 7.4 rebounds per game and 19.8 points per game last season. He will bash with Trayce Jackson-Davis. It will be a sight to see, but Champagnie has a slight advantage. He has only committed one foul this season. Jackson-Davis has already shot 18 free throws, so as long as Champagnie can play clean, he should have a scoring edge.
Indiana Paced By Solid Defense
Indiana, like St. John’s added plenty of depth via transfer: Xavier Johnson (Pitt), Parker Stewart (UT Martin), Miller Kopp (Northwestern) and Michael Durr (USF). Logan Duncomb and Tamar Bates are both four-star recruits as well.
This offense will run through the block. Indiana is no slouch down low, particularly Jackson-Davis, who has 10 blocks already. He is the cornerstone of Mike Woodson’s offense and will be all season. His issue is that even if he is efficient and earning free throws, he only has hit 10-of-18. He only made 65.6% from the line last year, so he will need to knock these down.
Race Thompson and Kopp provide other artillery for Indiana to work with. Look for a potential double team to mitigate the damage caused by Champagnie.
Indiana’s defense is the name of its game, but the biggest concern is offensive rebounding. Outside of Jackson-Davis, the Hoosiers will need help from Thompson and Kopp crashing the glass because if not, they will have very short trips down the court.
In addition, Indiana lost Armaan Franklin, Jerome Hunter and Al Durham to the transfer. These were three of their four best three point shooters. Kopp will help fill that void, but they will need help from Jordan Geronimo and Xavier Johnson.
St. John's vs. Indiana Betting Pick
St. John’s and Indiana are more even than the spread says in this game. St. John’s has some holes on defense, but Indiana will struggle getting to the free throw line and hitting threes.
Take the Red Storm at +6.5 (-110), and play to +5 (-115).
