NCAA Tournament Odds and Betting Preview: St. John’s vs. Arizona State



Ross Benjamin previews Wednesday’s NCAA Tournament game between St. John’s and Arizona State and does so from a betting perspective.

A pair of NCAA Tournament #11 seeds will meet in Dayton on Wednesday night when the St. John’s Red Storm and Arizona State Sun Devils get together. The opening tip time at University of Dayton Arena is slated for 9:10 PM ET. The winner of this game will advance to a West Region first round game in Tulsa, Oklahoma to take on #6 seed Buffalo (31-3).

The betting odds at 5Dimes is currently (3/19) displaying Arizona State as a 1.5-point favorite and there’s a posted total of 153.0.

St. Johns Arizona State betting tipsReeling Red Storm

St. John’s isn’t exactly entering the NCAA Tournament riding a wave of momentum. They’ve lost 4 of their last 5 games and have played horrendous defense throughout that funk. During that span, the Red Storm have allowed 83.4 points per game while permitting their opponents to shoot 50.4% and make 38.7% of its 3-point shots.

The Red Storm began their season by winning their first 12 games and all came over non-conference opposition. However, throughout that hot start, their only win over a team that made the "2019 Big Dance" was an 87-86 triumph over VCU (25-7). St. John’s has gone an uninspiring 9-12 over their last 21 games. Nonetheless, they played in the Big East Conference who has 4 of their 10 teams playing in this 2019 NCAA Tournament.

Sun Devils Resume

Despite a very good 22-10 record, Arizona State was one of the last 4 teams to receive an at-large bid. That seems odd considering they play in a power conference. Nevertheless, it’s been widely publicized that this has been a down year for the PAC-12. That was further evidenced by only 3 of its 12 teams making the NCAA Tournament. As a matter of fact, if not for Oregon’s 4 wins in 4 days to win the PAC-12 Tournament, it most likely would’ve been only Washington and Arizona State making this year’s 68-team field.

Red Storm Sun Devils betting  anglesAs opposed to St. John’s, Arizona State racked up a few quality non-conference wins. The Sun Devils own victories over NCAA Tournament teams Mississippi State (East #5), Utah State (Midwest #8), and Kansas (Midwest #4). They also sustained a close loss to Nevada (West #7) who was ranked 6th in the country at that time.

Relevant Team Trends

Arizona State scored 75 and 80 points during their last 2 games. They’ve gone 7-1 under the total this season after scoring 75 points or more in each of its previous 2 contests. Furthermore, they went over the total during those previously mentioned 2 high scoring outputs. Arizona State hasn’t gone over the total in 3 straight games all season long. As a matter of fact, they’ve gone over in 2 straight contests just 3 times, and the following 3 contests averaged 144.7 points scored per game.

This is only an 11th time in 34 games that St. John’s has been installed as an underdog. On the first 10 occasions, 8 of those contests stayed under. Additionally, 6 of St. John’s previous 7 games as an underdog went under the total. Those 7 contests produced just a collective 143.3 points scored per game.

Final Take

At this juncture, I don’t have a strong lean on either the side or total. When it comes to NCAA Tournament betting, quality should always take precedence over quantity. From my professional perspective, there’s games with more betting value than this one throughout the upcoming few days. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with taking a pass and seeking better opportunities. If opting otherwise, hopefully you gained even a small betting edge by taking the time to read this article.

Ross Benjamin Free Pick

Ross Benjamin is a top sports analyst and one of the sports industry's most respected handicappers. Follow him on Twitter: @RossBenjamin1 or visit his website at RBWins.com


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