It didn’t take Rick Pitino long to turn around St. John’s basketball. The program had been rudderless for years, last qualifying for the NCAA Tournament in 2019, Chris Mullin’s final year leading the Red Storm. However, in just Year 2, Pitino led the Johnnies to their first outright regular season Big East title since 1985 and at 26-4, the No. 6 ranked team in the country is rolling into March.
Winners of five straight, the Johnnies will close out their historic regular season on the road at No. 20 Marquette. The Golden Eagles kept pace for much of the year, but a three-game losing streak in February knocked Shaka Smart’s group of out Big East title contention.
While Marquette is locked into a first-round bye in the Big East Tournament, Marquette needs a win to hold onto a top-four seed and with a win and a UConn loss to Seton Hall on Saturday, could climb to No. 3. After sweeping the Golden Eagles in the regular season, including a 72-66 win on Wednesday night in Storrs, the Huskies hold the tiebreaker. Marquette will likely play red-hot Xavier in the first round.
They’re all still jostling to the finish line in the Big East regular season race. This matchup will help set the bracket for the Big East Tournament and more importantly, it’s a chance for Marquette to prove it belongs as a national championship contender this March.
How to watch No. 6 St. John’s vs. No. 20 Marquette
- Date: Saturday, March 8
- Time: Noon ET
- Venue: Fiserv Forum
- How to Watch (TV): FOX
- Streaming: fubo TV
- St. John’s record: 26-4 (17-2)
- Marquette record: 22-8 (13-6)
St. John’s vs. Marquette odds, spread and total
Odds provided by FanDuel Sportsbook
Moneyline
- St. John’s +114
- Marquette -137
Spread
- St. John’s +2.5 (-105)
- Marquette -1.5 (-115)
Total
- 141.5 (over -105/under -115)
St. John’s injury report
- Deivon Smith, G: OUT (shoulder)
- Aaron Scott, G: Questionable (knee)
- Jaiden Glover, G: OUT (wrist)
- Brady Dunlap, F: OUT (hand)
Marquette injury report
- N/A
Marquette and St. John’s series history
- Marquette all-time record vs. St. John’s: 29-17
St. John’s vs. Marquette prediction
It’s a good thing that Pitino’s squad was able to lock up the Big East title so quickly because, for the second-straight game, they’ll be without senior guard Deivon Smith. Smith is the team’s fourth-leading scorer and second-most important offensive distributor, trailing only Kadary Richmond with 4.1 assists per game. Smith’s ballhandling was crucial in the first matchup against a Shaka Smart-led team that loves to create havoc and turnovers.
While the Johnnies will miss Smith in the backcourt, it’s Pitino’s physical frontcourt that will take over the game in Milwaukee. In the last meeting, St. John’s produced a 47.7% offensive rebound rate against the undersized Golden Eagles, their fourth-highest mark of the entire season (according to CBBanalytics.com). Marquette is last in the Big East in defensive rebound rate and allows 10.3 second-chance points a game.
RJ Luis and Kadary Richmond have drawn the most attention for the Johnnies this year, and rightfully so, but Zuby Ejiofor had 13 points and 13 against Marquette and the aggressive 6-foot-9 junior will be too much for Smart’s group to handle down low. Marquette just can’t match that type of interior presence.
St. John’s may let its foot off the gas after clinching the conference crown, but I’m still willing to back Pitino’s group on the road in this one.