St. Johns vs. Indiana Prediction and Odds: Hoosiers Overvalued After Two Easy Wins

A pair of 2-0 face off on Wednesday night at Bloomington Assembly Hall where the Indiana Hoosiers host the St. John’s Red Storm.

The Red Storm started their season off with a win over Mississippi Valley State opening night and followed that up with a victory over Saint Peters. Both games featured strong defense from the Red Storm and the two teams combined to score just 131 points compared to 210 points from St. John’s. Through two games, Julian Champagnie leads the team with 44 points and eight rebounds over their first two games. 

On the other side of the coin, Indiana barely managed to hang on to beat Eastern Michigan opening night 68-62. The Hoosiers had a 36-16 lead at the half but couldn’t complete the blowout. Next, Indiana took on NIU in a game that showed much improvement over opening night. The Hoosiers again were up big at halftime 47-20. But, they kept playing hard until the final whistle and ended up winning 85-49.  Trayce Jackson-Davis leads the offense with 40 points and 21 rebounds in his first two outings. 

Here are the odds for this matchup courtesy of WynnBET: 

St. John’s vs. Indiana Odds, Spread, and Total

Spread:

• St. John’s +5.0 (-110)
• Indiana -5.0 (-110)

Moneyline:

• St. John’s +175
• Indiana -220

Total: 

• 151.5 (Over -110/Under -110)

St. John’s vs. Indiana Prediction and Pick

This will be the first true test of the Hoosiers after a pair of “warm-up” games to start the season. Going back to last year, the Hoosiers are on a 1-7 ATS slide and won just two of those games straight up. Jackson-Davis is a major talent for this program but he can’t do it all alone. So far, it appears that is exactly what his teammates are hoping for. 

I think these two teams are a lot closer than the spread suggests. The Red Strom has several defensive issues but Hoosiers struggle from deep and at the charity stripe. I think the odds here are a little too far off the mark in favor of Indiana and therefore will take the Red Storm to cover tonight. 

Pick: St. John’s Red Storm +5.0 (-110)