The college basketball season is starting to heat up with conference play well underway. Check out which teams I like in these SEC, ACC and Big East matchups tonight.
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St. John's needs a big win tonight for a number of reasons. They've lost their last three games, so obviously snapping that losing streak would be nice, but they also have a tough upcoming schedule. The Red Storm play Providence, Butler and UConn over their next three games. They should be able to beat Butler, but if they want to avoid a 2-5 start to Big East play (assuming losses to Providence and UConn), they'll need to get the job done tonight. While Marquette has been one of the more impressive teams on the offensive end this season, they play at a much slower pace than St. John's. I expect the Red Storm to try and speed this game up and force the Golden Eagles into mistakes. St. John's is also a much better rebounding team, especially on the offensive glass, which will give them the advantage around the rim where they look to score the majority of their points.
My pick: St. John's +2.5
Kentucky has not looked like the Blue Blood program we’re used to seeing under John Calipari. So why should I think that they can beat a 12-1 LSU team by 10? The Tigers' strength of schedule has been pretty weak this season, but they’ve still logged a few nice wins over Wake Forest and, most recently, Arkansas. They also only lost by two to Kansas State. Statistically, these two teams match up really well and LSU’s KJ Williams should be able to make life tough on Oscar Tshiebwe. Overall, Kentucky hasn’t proved that it is good enough to be a nine-point favorite over anyone right now.
My pick: LSU +10
It's hard to find reasons not to continue fading Louisville this season. Even trying to play devil's advocate in this one tonight, I can't find any reason not to play on Syracuse tonight, other than that they're on the road. Still, I don't think that will matter much because the Orange are the far superior team on both ends of the court. Syracuse also leads the ACC in offensive turnover percentage, which means there will be very few extra possessions for the Cardinals. On Louisville's side, they have the third-worst assist-to-turnover ratio in the nation. They are also just 1-6 ATS in their last seven games following a loss of more than 20 points, and they just lost to Kentucky by 23. The only way I can look in this one is to lay the points with Syracuse.
My pick: Syracuse -9
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