The Marquette Golden Eagles take on the St. John's Red Storm in the Big East Tournament. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
St. John's is favored by 4.5 points on the spread with a moneyline of -218. The total is set at 139.5 points.
Here’s my Marquette vs. St. John's predictions and college basketball picks for March 14, 2025.
Marquette vs St. John's Prediction
My Pick: St. John's -4.5 (Play to -6)
My Marquette vs St. John's best bet is on the Red Storm spread, with the best odds currently available at DraftKings. For all of your college basketball bets, be sure to find the best lines by using our live NCAAB odds page.
Marquette vs St. John's Odds
| Marquette Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+4.5 -102 | 139.5 -110o / -110u | +180 |
| St. John's Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-4.5 -118 | 139.5 -110o / -110u | -218 |
- Marquette vs St. John's spread: St. John's -4.5
- Marquette vs St. John's over/under: 139.5 points
- Marquette vs St. John's moneyline: St. John's -218, Marquette +180
- Marquette vs St. John's best bet: St. John's -4.5 (Play to -6)
Spread
I like St John's up to -6.
Moneyline
I have no play on the moneyline.
Over/Under
I have no play on the total.
My Pick: St. John's -4.5 (Play to -6)
Marquette vs St. John's College Basketball Betting Preview
Marquette was pretty close to limping into the NCAA Tournament, but a furious second-half comeback against Xavier could give the Golden Eagles momentum.
Can Marquette parlay that momentum from the big win into an even bigger win over St. John's?
That's going to be tough because the Johnnies lost just twice in Big East play by three total points.
If you like defense and turnovers, this should be your game.
I like the Johnnies for many reasons. One of the biggest ones is St. John's advantage in playing at Madison Square Garden. Very few teams get to play home games during their league tourney, and St. John's is one of them.
In the only meeting the Red Storm had at MSG versus Marquette this season, it won by six.
The other reason I like St. John's is I'm just looking to fade Marquette. The Golden Eagles have played poorly for well over a month. They might be ranked in the AP Poll, but they're just 44th in Bart Torvik's rankings since February 1.
Marquette is just 62nd in offensive efficiency in that span and perhaps even more concerning, it's 41st in defensive efficiency. It's not like Shaka Smart can rely on defense when his offense goes cold.
I think a lot of the issues Marquette has centers around not having a true big man. Ben Gold starts at the five, but he's really a four, which compounds the problems. The Golden Eagles are 334th in defensive rebounding rate in their past nine games.
Kam Jones erupted for 32 points and seven assists against St. John's in their most recent matchup and Marquette still lost. If Jones doesn't put together another huge scoring game, how does Marquette compete?
Nobody else on Marquette's roster scores consistently. The occasional big game from David Joplin happens, but Chase Ross and Stevie Mitchell are more defenders than scorers.
St. John's is a big, physical team, and it uses that size to collect 41% of its misses. The Red Storm had 19 offensive rebounds the other day against Marquette, and this game should mirror that one.
Yes, the Red Storm are fairly old fashion on the offensive end — they don't shoot many 3s because they don't have shooters and they specialize in scoring in the mid-range. St. John's has scored just enough from the mid-range when it needs to, though, much to the chagrin of analytic gurus.
Kadary Richmond is the catalyst of the Johnnies' old-school attack, as he's a force from inside the arc but a non-threat from 3.
RJ Luis Jr. also crushed Marquette last Saturday, scoring 20 points with six rebounds and five assists while making a trio of 3s. Luis is another player who isn't a great shooter, connecting on 31% from 3.
However, he's one of the top perimeter shooters on the Johnnies' roster behind Deivon Smith, who returned from injury versus Butler.
I just can't see Marquette keeping it super close on the "road." It doesn't have much depth and put forth a ton of energy to beat Xavier. Meanwhile, St. John's cruised to a win over Butler.
Rebounding is the real difference-maker, though. Everybody destroys Marquette on the glass, and almost nobody is better at that than Rick Pitino's Johnnies.
