Can St. John’s Continue to Surge Up Big East Standings?
Take a Look at Providence vs St. John's Match Analysis for This Highly Anticipated Matchup
While other conferences have just recently started conference play, the Big East is already onto its fifth conference game of the season.
St. John’s will welcome the Providence Friars to Madison Square Garden for an intense Big East battle tonight.
The Friars won their first two games of conference play against Marquette and Butler, however, they have fallen in their last two games against Seton Hall and Creighton despite only losing each game by single digits.
This will be Providence’s second consecutive road game after Saturday’s loss to Creighton on the road. The Friars are now 2-2 in conference play but 11-4 overall heading into this one.
Meanwhile, St. John’s is 3-1 in conference play thanks to wins over Xavier, Butler, and Villanova. The Red Storm’s only conference loss came on the road against UConn, 69-65.
When Rick Pitino took the St. John’s job, he acknowledged that rebuilding the program would take some time. Despite a couple of brutal losses to Michigan and Boston College, the Red Storm have played excellent basketball. They’re also 11-4 on the season but, again, 3-1 in conference play.
Therefore, the Red Storm are sitting at -5.5, while the total is currently at 144. Our Providence vs St. John’s match analysis is below.
Providence Friars vs St. John’s Red Storm 
Day/Time:
Location: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Stream: FS1
Providence vs St. John’s Match Analysis
The Providence Friars are already 0-2 on the road this season. Although they’re 8-6-1 against the spread, the Friars haven’t had much experience on the road. And when they have, they’ve lost both games.
Providence has also hit the Under in 11 games this season.
Meanwhile, St. John’s is 9-6 against the spread. They’ve gone 6-1 at home and have hit the Over in nine of 15 games this year.
Throughout the years, Providence and St. John’s have had their win streaks against one another. Over the last ten games, Providence went on a three-game winning streak from 2019 to 2020. Then St. John’s added three straight from 2020-2021. After that, the Friars punched back with three wins from 2022-2023.
Most recently, on February 11, St. John’s defeated Providence, 73-68, to potentially begin their streak of wins against the Friars.
Providence Dropped Out Of Top 25 Poll
The Big East is stacked with talent. That’s why it took just four games for every single team to at least have one loss on its resume in conference play.
The Friars didn’t just lose their last two NCAAB games. But they also lost their top player, Bryce Hopkins, for the season. Hopkins suffered a left knee injury that will conclude his season early.
Against Creighton, Providence was losing by 18 points but got back into the game, only to lose. The team morale is still high, and the confidence in this team is still there. But other guys will have to step up without Hopkins around.
Hopkins was second on the team in scoring, averaging 15.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game before he went down.
St. John’s Is Surging!
The St. John’s Red Storm have won nine of their last 11 games and have dominated the offensive glass, earning over 41% of offensive rebounds this season. That ranks third in the nation, which will certainly help, especially now that Providence doesn’t have Hopkins on the floor.
Rick Pitino took Providence to the Final Four in his earlier days as a coach. He has some fond memories but won’t be thinking about those when he takes on the Friars in Madison Square Garden.
Turnovers Could Be The Difference!
The St. John’s Red Storm have shot 34.6% from three and 50% from inside the arc. Those aren’t exactly eye-popping numbers. However, as we just acknowledged, St. John’s is typically active on the offensive glass, earning 41.6% offensive rebounds this season.
The Red Storm don’t get to the foul line often, but they’ve turned the ball over under 17% of the time, which is above average.
Still, Providence is one of the better defenses in college basketball. They’ve held teams to 30.5% from three and a staggering 42.1% from inside the arc. That’s good for fourth in the nation.
While Providence won’t have Hopkins, the Friars are still solid on the glass themselves. They’ve allowed under 25% of offensive rebounds this season.
On the other hand, the Friars have been better at shooting the ball but not good in other areas offensively. Providence has shot 32.7% from three but 54.8% from inside the arc. Like St. John’s, Providence is not getting to the foul line often and earning just 26% of offensive rebounds. On top of that, the Friars have given up 18.9% of turnovers.
St. John’s should win the turnover battle, as the Red Storm have forced a takeaway in 19.3% of possessions this season.
The Red Storm aren’t as active on the defensive glass as they are on the offensive side. But with Providence really struggling to earn second chances, St. John’s should be able to escape on the glass.
Realistically, neither offense is very appealing in this game. The Red Storm take a lot of two-point looks but only shoot 50% from the floor, while Providence remains one of the best defenses inside the arc. Meanwhile, Providence takes more threes and has hit 32.7% from downtown, which is a below-average number.
Whoever wins this game could find themselves back in the top 25 of the college basketball rankings. Neither has a high probability with their odds to win March Madness, but both NCAAB teams should still make the tournament with how things are going this year.
Still, look at the NCAAB scores for Providence. They’re an Under machine this year. Therefore, after reviewing our Providence vs St. John’s match analysis, we’ll ride the Under 144 in this Big East showdown.
For NCAAB betting news,NCAA basketball schedule, and more, visitPoint SpreadsSports Magazine.
