St. Johns vs. Pitt – College Basketball Odds & Picks: The 17th ranked Pitt Panthers will attempt to bounce back from its current two-game losing streak when they host the Red Storm of St. Johns at the Peterson Center on the Pittsburg Campus Thursday night (7 pm Eastern, ESPNU).
College basketball oddsmakers at SPORTSBETTING.com list the Panthers as 8 1/2-chalk favorites versus the Red Storm with a 125 1/2 total. St. Johns backers are getting +330 odds on the SPORTSBETTING moneyline while Pitt is giving -420.
Despite its losing streak, Pitt has won eight of its last 10 games and 12 of its last 15 contests. It recently completed one of its most difficult schedule stretches in years. Pitt won three consecutive back-to-back-to-back road games at No. 5 Syracuse, at Cincinnati and at No. 16 Connecticut. Pitt Louisville 82-77 in overtime on Jan. 13 and concluded the stretch with a 74-66 home loss to Georgetown, which snapped the Panthers' 31-game home win streak.
With a 5-2 league record, Pitt's start in Big East play ranks tied for the second best start in school history.
St. John's enters the game with a 12-7 overall and 2-5 Big East record. Coached by Norm Roberts, the Red Storm is led by Pittsburgh native D.J. Kennedy, who averages 15.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. Dwight Hardy (11.8 ppg), Paris Horne (8.4 ppg.) and Justin Brownlee (7.8 ppg.) are all key contributors for St. John's. St. John's enters the contest on a two-game losing streak after dropping consecutive games at Connecticut (75-59) and Villanova (81-71). Pitt has won three straight meetings against St. John's and has claimed six of the series' last eight meetings.
One of these teams will break its losing skid and the other will continue its downswing. We fully expect Pitt to win versus St. Johns and cover the 8 1/2 line.
