Xavier vs St. John's (NY) Prediction, Odds & Best Bet for February 4 (Red Storm Can't Keep Pace with Musketeers)

Xavier vs St. John's (NY) Game Info

• 2022-23 NCAA Basketball Regular Season Game
• No. 16 Xavier (18-5, 10-2 Big East) vs. St. John's (NY) (14-9, 4-8 Big East)
• Date: Saturday, February 4, 2023
• Time: 5:00 PM ET
• Venue: Cintas Center -- Cincinnati, Ohio

Saturday, Feb. 4's NCAA college basketball slate includes a Big East matchup as the No. 16 Xavier Musketeers look to remain dominant at home against the visiting St. John's Red Storm.

Xavier has a pep in its step after securing an 85-83 overtime victory over ranked Providence on Wednesday. St. John's hasn't had much luck lately, though. The Red Storm fell 84-72 to Seton Hall earlier this week, marking their third loss in the last four outings.

Can Xavier prove, once again, why it's one of the nation's top-25 programs? Or will St. John's find a way to hand the Musketeers just their second loss at Cintas Center this season?

Xavier vs St. John's (NY) Odds & Spread

• All college basketball betting lines, odds and prop bets are from FanDuel Sportsbook.
• Moneyline: XAVIER: (-430) | STJOHN: (+330)
• Spread: XAVIER: -8.5 (-115) | STJOHN: +8.5 (-105)
• Total: 166.5 -- Over: (-110) | Under: (-110)

Xavier enters this contest as the clear home favorite on the moneyline and spread per FanDuel Sportsbook's odds. This 5 p.m. ET clash also features an over/under of 166.5 points with -110 odds on both sides.

Xavier vs St. John's (NY) Betting Trends

• Xavier is 12-11-0 against the spread this year.
• Against the spread as 8.5-point favorites or more, the Musketeers are 3-6.
• This year, 16 of Xavier's 23 games have gone over the point total.
• Against the spread, St. John's (NY) is 9-13-0 this season.
• As a 8.5-point underdog or greater, the Red Storm have one win ATS (1-1) this year.
• Out of St. John's (NY)'s 22 games so far this year, 11 have gone over the total.

Xavier Rank	Xavier AVG		St. John's (NY) AVG	St. John's (NY) Rank
7th	83.3	Points Scored	77.3	54th
334th	76.2	Points Allowed	73.6	292nd
40th	35.0	Rebounds	36.8	11th
131st	9.2	Off. Rebounds	11.6	14th
199th	7.3	3pt Made	5.9	318th
1st	20.8	Assists	15.2	51st
222nd	12.5	Turnovers	13.4	296th

Xavier vs St. John's (NY) Prediction & Pick

Though both Xavier and St. John's boast respectable offenses, the edge goes to the home team. While the Red Storm average 77.3 points (No. 36) on 45.6% shooting (No. 89), the Musketeers operate on an 83.3 PPG clip (No. 4) with a 50.0% field-goal percentage (No. 4). That's not even mentioning how Xavier averages a nation-leading 20.8 assists.

On top of Xavier's superior offense, it's tough trusting St. John's on the road. Not only are the Red Storm 1-7 straight up in their last eight road games, but they've lost four of five away contests against Big East rivals this season. Furthermore, they're also 1-8 as underdogs thus far.

With the Musketeers boasting a 93.8% winning percentage as the favorite this year, look for Xavier to keep its momentum growing tonight.

Final Score Prediction: Xavier: 82 | St. John's: 70

Xavier vs St. John's (NY) Best Bet

For tonight's best bet, I'm looking at the total finishing under 166.5 points. Yes, Xavier and St. John's have top-40 offenses, but that's a huge total even for them. It's also worth noting that the Muskeeters and Red Storm have combined for fewer than 166.5 points in 10 of their last 11 meetings.

Taking into consideration St. John's recent inconsistent play, I'm erring on the side of caution by siding with the under.

Bet: Under 166.5 Points (-110)

Devon Platana is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Devon Platana also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username PepeSilvia0. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.