St. John’s Red Storm at Villanova Wildcats Same Game Parlay Picks

Wednesday night’s same game parlay picks take us to the Finneran Pavilion in Villanova, PA where the Villanova Wildcats will attempt to step in front of the runaway train that’s turned into the No. 12 St. John’s Red Storm. Rick Pitino’s kids scored a huge road win last time out at UConn battling back from a 21-8 first half deficit to tally the 68-62 triumph extending the team’s winning streak to 10. The Wildcats tallied a second straight win and cover as 2.5-point favorites on Super Bowl Sunday taking Xavier down 80-68 to move to 7-6 in Big East play.

Caesars Sportsbook will have the Johnnies installed possession road favorites on the college basketball betting odds with the total set around 140 for the second and final regular season meeting between these Big East rivals.

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St. John’s Red Storm

The Red Storm proved to be giant killers last week taking down Marquette at home Tuesday night before flying out to Storrs where they shocked the defending champs. Once again, RJ Luis saved his best for last scoring six of his game-high 21 points to lead St. John’s to the dramatic come-from-behind victory. Zuby Ejiofor, Kadary Richmond, and Simeon Welcher rounded out the double-digit scorers with the team shooting 40% from the floor.

The Johnnies won the game regardless of only connecting on 4 of 21 shots from beyond the arc and getting destroyed on the glass 43-33. Defense and forcing turnovers remains the name of the game for the 12^th ranked team in the nation with the unit only serving up 65 points (#29) and forcing 16.0 turnovers (#6) per game.

Villanova Wildcats

Since dropping three straight to Georgetown, Marquette, and Creighton, Nova has rattled off back-to-back wins and CBB odds covers against DePaul (59-49) and Xavier (80-68) to get its season back on the right track. Now a single game over .500 in conference play, the Wildcats have put themselves in a position to snag an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament if it continues to stockpile wins with only seven games remaining on the regular season docket.

After playing to a 33-33 deadlock with the Musketeers through a half of play, Eric Dixon erupted in the second half scoring 22 of his game-high 24 points to lead Villanova to the 12 point win—a final margin of victory that covered the closing 2.5-point spread. Wooga Poplar and Tyler Perkins also combined for 43 points as the team shot 50.9% from the floor and connected on half of their 24 attempted long range shots. 

Same Game Parlay Picks

These teams already crossed paths back on January 11 in Madison Square Garden. The match was competitive all the way through until the four minute mark of the second half when St. John’s took the lead and never relinquished it. Both offenses shot around 40% from the floor and turned the ball over nine times apiece, but the Johnnies ability to get to the charity stripe a whopping 39 times ultimately allowed them to defend their court and secure the 12 point win in a match that just exceeded the closing 146-point total. Poplar led Nova in scoring with 22 points, while Luis proved to be the Red Storm’s PTPer going off for a game-high 30 points with more than half of that output tallied from the free throw line.

On paper, the visitors hold a clear edge defensively, with St. John’s boasting KenPom’s No. 2 adjusted defensive efficiency ranking. Villanova’s offense however ranks 16th in efficiency, averaging 1.201 points per possession. What makes me believe the first meeting between these teams was an anomaly is that both excel at avoiding fouls while also struggling to get to the free-throw line. Despite shooting over 80% from the stripe, Nova averages just 15.3 attempts per game (#344). If the officiating doesn’t swing in their favor to counterbalance the calls St. John’s received in the first matchup, I’m not comfortable relying solely on Nova’s elite three-point shooting to pull off the mild upset. The Johnnies have won and covered the last three meetings, and I expect their defense to travel again—even in a potential letdown spot following their big road win against UConn.

St. John’s vs. Villanova Same Game Parlay Picks: St. John’s ATS + Under (+264)