Red Storm Visit Mountaineers
St. John's vs West Virginia Odds See Red Storm Favored
The St. John’s Red Storm visit the West Virginia Mountaineers on Friday night in a decent match-up. St. John’s is 4-2 on the NCAAB season, owning a win over a pretty decent Utah team. The Mountaineers are off to a 3-3 start and are struggling to shoot the basketball. The defense has kept them in a few games, but West Virginia hasn’t been able to capitalize. The St. John’s vs West Virginia odds have the Red Storm favored by 5.5 (-115) on the road with a total of 148.5.
Red Storm vs Mountaineers 
Date & time (TV):
Location: WVU Coliseum, Morgantown, West Virginia
Line: St. John’s -5.5 (-115)
Total: 148.5
Streaming: Live Sports Stream
St. John’s Scoring Picks Up
The Red Storm are averaging 79.8 points per game offensively and have scored 91 in each of their last two NCAAB games. St. John’s isn’t a great shooting team inside the paint. But the Red Storm can knock down the 3-pointer. St. John’s is shooting 38.4% from long range, which is No. 33 in the country. The Red Storm have done a great job at getting second chances, ranking No. 2 in offensive rebounding percentage.
St. John’s is allowing 71.7 points per game, holding the opposition to 43.8% from the field. The Red Storm 3-point defense allows 37.2% on 3-pointers, which is No. 304 in the country. That’s obviously the area St. John’s needs to address the most. The 2-point defense isn’t bad, where the Red Storm allow 47.2% shooting.
St. John’s is 4-2 straight-up, but just 2-4 against the spread. The Red Storm have defeated Stony Brook and North Texas in non-covering efforts.
Mountaineers Not Shooting the Ball Well
West Virginia is shooting just 38.1% from the field and it doesn’t matter how good your defense is when you shoot like that. The Mountaineers are hitting 29.6% on 3-pointers and just 43.2% on 2-pointers, which is No. 336 in the nation. West Virginia is ranked No. 331 in effective field goal percentage by Ken Pomeroy.
The defense has been much better, with the Mountaineers ranking No. 61 in defensive efficiency. The Mountaineers are tough on the inside, allowing 43.5% on 2-pointers, but have been hurt a little bit from the outside. Teams are shooting 33.6% on 3-pointers against West Virginia.
West Virginia is 3-3 straight-up and against the NCAA basketball odds. The Mountaineers are 0-5-1 in totals thanks to a decent defense and having little offensive output so far this season. The NCAA basketball scores show the Mountaineers are averaging 62.7 points per game and allowing 62.2.
What to Expect
St. John’s will likely come out and try to do what it does best, which is get the game played at a decent pace and shoot from the outside. The Red Storm are attempting 23 3-pointers per game and that looks to be where they can have the most success.
West Virginia is going to slow the pace down and look to its defense to make some stops. Whatever output the Mountaineers get from the offense is only going to help.
Neither team is expected to do a whole lot this season. The odds to win March Madness on St. John’s are +8000, while the Mountaineers are +10000. So both NCAA basketball teams would benefit from picking up a win here to boost their end-of-season stock for any sort of tournament invite.
Who to Bet On?
The St. John’s vs West Virginia odds of Red Storm -5.5 might be a shade on the high side. The Mountaineers have been a decent home team ATS the past few seasons. West Virginia has had its share of problems against the Big East Conference, going 1-6 against the spread over the years.
But the Red Storm haven’t played well in non-conference games the past few seasons, going 11-17 against the spread.
The St. John’s vs West Virginia odds on the total appear to be a little bit on the high side. The Red Storm aren’t great on defense, but the Mountaineers have been atrocious offensively. If West Virginia gets to play at its preferred pace, the Mountaineers could have one of their better shooting games and still see the game land under the total. The play that makes the most sense in this game is to play the under 148.5.
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