The St. John's Red Storm take on the Georgia Bulldogs in Nassau, Bahamas. Tip-off is set for 11 a.m. ET on CBS Sports Network.
The Johnnies are favored by 8.5 points on the spread with a moneyline of -335. The total is set at XXXX points.
Here’s my St. John's vs. Georgia predictions and college basketball picks for November 24, 2024.
St. John's vs Georgia Prediction
My Pick: Georgia +8.5
My St. John's vs Georgia best bet is on the Bulldogs spread, with the best odds currently available at FanDuel. For all of your college basketball bets, be sure to find the best lines by using our live NCAAB odds page.
St. John's vs Georgia Odds
| St. John's Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-8.5 -102 | 149.5 -115 / -105 | -335 |
| Georgia Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+8.5 -120 | 149.5 -115 / -105 | +265 |
- St. John's vs Georgia spread: St. John's -8.5
- St. John's vs Georgia over/under: 149.5 points
- St. John's vs Georgia moneyline: St. John's -335, Georgia +265
- St. John's vs Georgia best bet: Georgia +8.5
Spread
I'm targeting Georgia on the spread.
Moneyline
I'm passing on the moneyline.
Over/Under
I'm passing on the total.
My Pick: Georgia +8.5
St. John's vs Georgia College Basketball Betting Preview
St. John's Basketball
St. John's dominant win over Virginia vaulted it to No. 11 in KenPom, up five spots from No. 16.
Is St. John's really a top-10 level team? I don't really buy it.
Kadary Richmond and Deivon Smith are both highly effective players. The problem is that both need the ball to maximize their impact, and Smith is better than Richmond due to his speed and deep scoring bag.
Both players sport a 20% usage rate, down from 29% for Richmond and 26% for Smith last year. It doesn't really matter who has the ball if the Johnnies win, but the fit is interesting since neither shoots it well.
The one part of the Johnnies' game I don't buy is their shooting. After shooting 40% from 3 in the past two games against Virginia and Baylor, it raised their season percentage to 39%.
In the lineup featuring Smith, Richmond, RJ Luis Jr., Aaron Scott and Zuby Ejiofor, the only player teams label a shooter is Scott, who shot 37% from 3 last year and 40% so far this year. Smith and Luis are both above 36% from 3, but they don't shoot many 3s, and teams will gladly dare them to shoot rather than drive.
It shouldn't be a shocker, but St. John's could wind up as one of the better defensive teams in the country. That's the style Rick Pitino wants, and his team has a litany of long, rangy defenders who will keep opponents out of the paint, thus forcing them to shoot long 2s or 3s.
Another area of strength for St. John's is winning the turnover battle. It forces turnovers 20% of the time, while giving it away 18% of the time. That's the biggest advantage for the Red Storm since we already saw Georgia's ball-handling woes versus another Big East team.
Georgia Basketball
Georgia fought tooth-and-nail with Marquette until a few untimely turnovers tilted the game in the opposite direction.
Marquette shot 40% from 3, which is above its season average. I don't expect the Red Storm to come out popping 3s left and right like Marquette.
Though Georgia lost, you can still draw some positives in a tough game.
Firstly, Tyrin Lawrence looked like Georgia's best playmaking option. He had plenty of poise when driving to the lane and finishing or dishing to Blue Cain in the corner.
Conversely, Silas Demary Jr. made crucial late mistakes. He turned the ball over eight times against the intense Marquette pressure, which really displayed his lack of point guard experience.
The Bulldogs need to solve their point guard situation.
In order for Georgia to beat teams like St. John's, connecting on 3s is paramount. The Bulldogs went 8-for-25 (32%) from downtown versus Marquette — all of which came from Cain and Dakota Leffew.
Somebody else needs to help in the shooting column, as Lawrence, Demary and Asa Newell combined to shoot 0-of-7 from downtown.
Finally, Newell looked like a freshman. It's nothing new for a freshman to look mortal; every rookie endures a rough game. Newell scored a season-low nine points on 3-of-9 shooting and appeared reluctant to attack using his height advantage.
The star-studded talent stands four inches taller than Luis, so he should be able to score using his size.
The Bulldogs' rebounding remains a major strength. They won the rebounding battle by three over Marquette and rank in the top 10 in offensive and defensive rebounding percentage.
St. John's vs Georgia Betting Analysis
As I touched on earlier, Georgia needs to shoot it better and limit the turnovers.
Also, I see a bit of shooting regression waiting on the Johnnies' doorstep.
I don't value the win over Virginia at all. Plus, Virginia was a 10.5-point underdog on a neutral court against St. John's.
Since Georgia is just a eight-point underdog, that would mean Vegas thinks Georgia and Virginia are quite close.
That feels like a misevaluation on both sides.
Give me the Dawgs to cover.
