The No. 6 Xavier Musketeers know how to bounce back. After seeing their 12-game win streak to open the season snapped by Villanova, the X-men trounced the Butler Bulldogs to get back in the win column. The St. John’s Red Storm, meanwhile, are merely seeking for an end to their five-game losing skid. Will the Red Storm take down a conference giant? Or will the Musketeers do what’s expected of them and annihilate St. John’s.
Read on for more about this game. You can also check out our preview of California vs. Oregon.
Betting on the Xavier Musketeers (13-1, 1-1 Big East)
[sc:NCAAB240banner ]The Musketeers were not to suffer another setback following a loss to No. 16 Villanova to open conference play—their first of the season—as they bounced back with an RPI-boosting 88-69 victory over No. 9 Butler on Wednesday.
The high-scoring Musketeers had their usual shooting touch rolling against Butler, as they shot 56 percent from the field and hit 10 of 21 attempts from deep. More impressive was that Xavier managed to exceed their season average of 80.6 points per game minus arguably its best player, Edmond Sumner. Sumner was involved in an ugly collision in the loss to Villanova, causing him to miss the Butler game, but could be back for tonight’s game after being released from the hospital.
If Sumner can’t go, then the Musketeers would be looking for others to fill in the freshman’s averages of 11.0 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. Against Butler, it was Remy Abell, who answered the call, as the senior guard churned out a career-high 21 points—he’s averaging just 7.9 PPG on the season.
Up against St. John’s defense that allowed a whopping 78.8 points over its last five games, Xavier’s band of scorers led by Trevon Bluiett appears to be bound for another robust offensive night. Bluiett, who scored 13 points against the Bulldogs, paces the team with 14.3 PPG to go along with a solid 7.1 RPG thus far this season.
Xavier is 2-1-1 ATS in its last four meetings with the Red Storm.
Betting on the St John’s Red Storm (7-8, 0-2 Big East)
Coaching a team who can’t shoot must be very frustrating for NBA legend and now St. John’s head coach Chris Mullin.
Mullin’s team showed how busted its offense was once again on Saturday, when the Red Storm went 23-for-63 from the field (36.5%) and 2-for-13 (15.4%) from beyond the arc in an 83-65 loss to No. 12 Providence—St. John’s fifth loss in a row.
Only big man Yankuba Sima shot better than 50% in the game, going 6-for-9 for 14 points, while the team’s leading scorer, Federico Mussini (12.7 PPG), succumbed to the Friars’ defense , as he made just three points on 1-for-3 from the field. It’s not about to get easy for the Red Storm later tonight, considering that the Musketeers allow just 66.1 points per contest.
All told, St. John’s has a real problem in its anemic offense that both ranks last in the Big East in scoring (66.9 PPG) and field goal shooting (41.4%).
Hopefully for the Red Storm, they can take advantage of scoring opportunities on the line. That said, they‘re shooting like they’re trained by DeAndre Jordan, as St. John’s is also last in the conference with a 64.0% free throw shooting. The Red Storm went 17-for-25 (68.0%) at the line against Providence.
The over is 3-1 in St. John’s last four games as the home team.
