Stephon Payne III<\/a> leading the team at 6.7 rebounds per game. The Pirates also block 5.2 shots per contest, and their length inside forces opponents into tough finishes. Their home record of 12\u20134 shows how well they respond to the Prudential Center crowd.<\/p>\nFor Seton Hall to win, they must slow the game down and keep St. John\u2019s out of transition. Clark needs an efficient scoring night, and Payne must control the boards to limit second\u2011chance points. The Pirates also need Staton\u2011McCray to hit timely threes to keep the defense honest. If Seton Hall protects the ball and forces St. John\u2019s into contested jumpers, they can turn this into a low\u2011possession game that suits their style. Their defense gives them a real chance if they dictate tempo early.<\/p>\n
Prediction<\/h3>\n
Seton Hall getting +4.5 fits the way this matchup often plays out when the Pirates control tempo and turn the game into a defensive grind. Their Big East numbers point in that direction again. They allow only 66.7 points in league play and hold opponents to 40.8% shooting. That gives them a real edge against a St. John\u2019s team that relies heavily on interior scoring. Seton Hall also rebounds well and limits second\u2011chance points, which helps them stay close even when the offense stalls. If Clark and Staton\u2011McCray give them steady scoring, the Pirates can keep this within one or two possessions for most of the night.<\/p>\n
The Under 137.5 also matches the style these teams usually create when they meet. St. John\u2019s scores 79.7 points in conference play, but their offense slows down against physical defenses, and Seton Hall fits that mold. The Pirates average only 67.1 points in Big East games and play at one of the slowest tempos in the league. Their interior defense forces long possessions, and their lack of three\u2011point shooting keeps games from turning into track meets. St. John\u2019s also defends well, holding opponents to 69.9 points, which supports a lower\u2011scoring matchup.<\/p>\n
The combination of good defense and a slower pace often pushes games toward tight margins and modest totals. Seton Hall\u2019s ability to limit pace, protect the paint, and force St. John\u2019s into contested jumpers gives them a strong chance to stay inside the number. The Under stays live as long as the Pirates avoid turnovers and keep St. John\u2019s out of transition. With both teams comfortable in slower, physical games, this matchup sets up well for Seton Hall +4.5 and the Under 137.5 to both stay in play deep into the second half.<\/p>\n
Picks: Seton Hall +4.5 and Under 137.5<\/strong><\/p>\nFeatured Image:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Friday evening on the College Hardwood, and we have a huge Big East contest lined up and ready to roll. Tonight, the St John’s Red Storm will travel to the Prudential Center to tangle with the Seton Hall Pirates. The Red Storm are having a heck of a season. They are tied with UConn atop […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5785,"featured_media":180111,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,49087,773,50440,3],"tags":[49808,1449,1450],"class_list":["post-180093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-basketball-betting","category-college-basketball","category-ncaa-predictions","category-news","tag-bryce-hopkins","tag-seton-hall-pirates","tag-st-johns-red-storm"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5785"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180093"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180093\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":180112,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180093\/revisions\/180112"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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