St. John's vs Creighton Odds, Picks and Predictions: There's a Storm Coming

St. John’s is off to its best start in Big East play since 2002 and lays their 4-1 record Big East record on the line when they travel to Omaha for a Saturday afternoon matchup with No. 22 Creighton.

After a slow start to their conference season, Creighton has won three consecutive Big East tilts and is looking to make it seven straight victories over the visiting Red Storm.

Please join me as I take a closer look at the college basketball odds with free college basketball picks as I preview St. Johns vs Creighton on Saturday, January 12.

St. John's vs Creighton best odds

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St. John's vs Creighton picks and predictions

Saturday’s St. John’s vs Creighton matchup could easily be the best game of the day and one I’ve been looking forward to all week.

St. John’s has exceeded all expectations and then some. Their 4-1 start to Big East play is the Johnnies' best start since 2002, and they are in an unlikely three-way tie for the conference top spot.

The Red Storm have accomplished this feat with a combination of stout defense and an offense averaging 80.8 points per game. St. John’s has limited its Big East opponents to 70 points per game with six steals and five blocks while allowing opponents to shoot an impressive 28% from beyond the arc.

The Johnnies have come up big both home and away. They are 2-1 in true away games and lost a four-point heartbreaker at UConn. They are 6-4 against top-100 KenPom teams, and the main reason why St. John’s will cover the spread is a noticeably improving 2-3 matchup zone that has confused shooters, caused turnovers, and forced teams to score in the paint where the Red Storm are blocking five shots per contest.

It won’t be easy against one of the best three-point shooting sides in the country. Bluejays guards Baylor Scheirman and Trey Alexander can really shoot the rock, and center Ryan Kalkbrenner is a solid presence on the block with four double-doubles. Their perimeter defense has allowed just 87 triples this season, and Creighton allows 65.6 points per matchup.

Slowing down Creighton’s sharpshooters is one thing. Scoring on their defense is another, and the Bluejays defense is stout. St. John’s has five Johnnies averaging double digits. Still, the one-two punch of Red Storm center Joel Soriano and guard Deniss Jenkins has been deadly–Soriano is averaging a double-double on the season while Jenkins is the team's top playmaker and second-leading scorer. 

Finally, I love St. John’s to cover the +8.5. They are as stout a perimeter defense as one can find in the D1 game, fueled by a 2-3 matchup zone that confuses shooters, produces blocked shots, and sends the Red Storm off and running. It’s why they average 13.8 points from turnovers and average 15.6 offensive caroms per matchup, cleaning up missed layups. St. John’s is 3-0 ATS as the away team, and while they likely won’t win, they should cover the +8.5 against the 4-4-0 ATS Bluejays when at home. 

My best bet: St. John's +8.5 (-105 at FanDuel)

St. John's vs Creighton same-game parlay

St. Johns +8.5

Under 151.5

+254 at FanDuel

This same-game parlay card pays $246 for a $100 bet. That’s a decent price for a two-leg same-game parlay, and I like this card.

My best bet is for the Johnnies to cover the +7.5. They are 3-0 ATS as the away team and playing exceptionally well on both ends of the floor. Creighton has struggled to cover the spread against programs with winning records, and they will struggle against the Red Storm defense.

The Under 151.5 correlates nicely with the spread wager. For St. John’s to cover the spread, they’ll need to play the same exceptional defense they’ve displayed throughout the season. Creighton can light teams up from downtown and play stout defense while committing a national-best 10.9 fouls per game.  

Learn how to bet a same-game parlay with these helpful tips and strategies.

St. John's vs Creighton spread and Over/Under analysis

We’ve examined the spread and why I believe St. John’s will cover it. The 151.5-point total at FanDuel is also interesting to me, and we’ll look closely for an additional play.

St. John’s has bought into head coach Rick Pitino’s signature 2-3 matchup zone defense. After some growing pains, the Johnnies have noticeably improved that aspect of their defense, and Pitino isn’t afraid to switch to a man-to-man defense when things aren’t working out. That defense is the key to betting the 151.5 total correctly–we either believe St. John’s can slow down the Bluejays shooters, or we don’t.

The Johnnie’s defense is for real. I also believe the Bluejays have an underrated defense of its own and they can cause St. John’s all sorts of trouble. The Red Storm offense has had some turnover issues, but their stout defense has covered for those. What happens if it doesn’t? 

Now you understand why I took St. John’s and the points for my best bet.

St. Johns has an Over/Under record of 2-1 to the Over as the away team. Creighton boasts an O/U home record of 4-4-0, so there's not much of an edge there.

I chose the Under 151.5 for leg two of the SGP, and I LOVE the Under 151.5 at FanDuel for a second wager that should also land. DraftKings and PointsBet opened 150.5; I suspect this will be the closing number, but we may see a slight rise before it falls again. Under bettors can me as I grab the 151.5 before the markets shift.  

St. John's vs Creighton betting trend to know

The Red Storm is 4-1 ATS in their last five road games, and Creighton Bluejays are 1-4 ATS in their last five games vs. a team with a winning straight-up record. Find more college basketball betting trends for St. John's vs. Creighton.

St. John's vs Creighton game info

St. John's vs Creighton key injuries

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