St. John's, the five seed in the Big East Tournament, survived a big scare yesterday against 13th seeded Rutgers, but the Red Storm advanced nonetheless. Their narrow win earned them a meeting with No. 11 Syracuse. Today's quaterfinals contest between the Red Storm and Orange is scheduled to get underway at 2:00pm ET at Madison Square Garden (ESPN). The latest College Basketball Lines have Syracuse listed as a -2.5 NCAA basketball predictions favorite; the Over/Under is set at 135.
St. John's has the stink of a poor officiating job lingering over it after last night's 65-63 win against the Scarlet Knights. The
Red Storm's Justin Brownlee recovered a loose ball in the games final seconds, but his premature celebration led to him stepping out-of-bounds with 1.7 left on the clock. Brownlee, though, got away with the miscue because, apparently, no officials saw him travel or step across the line.
Regardless, the Red Storm are in the quarters and they can erase any ill feelings from yesterday's debacle with a win over Syracuse this afternoon. St. John's, which owns a 21-10 record (12-6 conference), did not fare well in its first meeting with the Orange, losing 59-76 at Syracuse on January 12th.
The Orange held the always dangerous Dwight Hardy, who leads St. John's in scoring at 17.9 per, to 12 points in that game, and it limited the Red Storm as a team to 36.8 percent field goal shooting. The loss marked St. John's fifth straight loss to Jim Boeheim's squad (average margin of victory 14.6 points).
Syracuse's strong push at the conclusion of the regular season led to a third place finish in the Big East's final standings. The Orange ran their overall record to 25-6 (12-6 conference) after winning five straight to close out their schedule.
DePaul served as Syracuse's final tournament tune up as the Orange hit on all cylinders in the March 5th meeting between the two squads. Boeheim's troops won the game 107-59 after hitting 71.4 percent from the field and 77.8 percent from long range (7-of-9). Six Orange players, including Rick Jackson, Kris Joseph, and Scoop Jardine, scored in double figures in the blowout.
St. John's vs Syracuse Lines 2011 College Basketball Predictions:
St. John's Red Storm +2.5 (-110), Over 135 (-110), +125 (Moneyline)
Syracuse Orange -2.5 (-110), Under 135 (-110), -145 (Moneyline)
