NCAA Free Picks: St. John's Red Storm vs Georgetown Hoyas

Sunday, February 12, 2012

by Joe Rodriguez

The Georgetown Hoyas just missed a chance for a marquee win when it took No. 2 Syracuse to overtime on Wednesday, but the 11th-ranked Hoyas can still improve their resume by taking care of business against five straight unranked opponents, starting with St. Johns Red Storm.

Georgetown has won six straight at home in the series and used its Big East-best scoring defense (58.8 points) to rout St. John's 69-49 last month.

The Red Storm have dropped two straight games by a combined 47 points.

- St. Johns Red Storm @ Georgetown Hoyas
When: 1:00 PM ET, Sunday, February 12, 2012
Where: Verizon Center, Washington, District of Columbia
TV: 1 p.m. ET, ESPN, ESPN3.com
Check Live NCAA Basketball Odds on Justbet Sportsbook .

Justbet Sportsbook currently have the Hoyas listed as 14½-point favorites versus the Red Storm.

St. John's Red Storm (10-14): The Red Storm are 0-9 against ranked teams and will have their shortest roster yet for this matchup. Junior guard Malik Stith left the team last week, leaving the Johnnies with only six scholarship players that see regular action. That means even more of a burden is placed upon an all-freshmen starting lineup that hasn't played consistently on either end of the floor over the past two games. The Red Storm let both visiting Cincinnati and Syracuse shoot better than 51 percent. Defense, though, wasn't the problem in their first matchup with the Hoyas. Instead, St. John's, which ranks last in the conference in assists, struggled in the half-court set and went 0 for 10 from 3-point range.

Georgetown Hoyas (18-5): The Hoyas' defense is predicated on aggressive ball pressure that has troubled even the conference's most seasoned guards. Georgetown held Syracuse senior Scoop Jardine to 1-of-7 shooting in the 64-61 overtime loss and limited UConn's Jeremy Lamb to 4 of 18 in a home win earlier this month. The Hoyas have been dominating the boards just as well, outrebounding the Orange by 18 and owned the Red Storm by 12. St. John's was outrebounded 46-22 last time out against Cincinnati.

1. St. John’s leading scorer DAngelo Harrison went 1 for 12 with four turnovers in the first matchup, while Georgetown’s two top scorers, Jason Clark and Hollis Thompson, combined for 35 points.

2. Georgetown is 12-1 at home; St. John’s is 2-6 on the road.

3. Moe Harkless may have hit the freshman wall. The versatile slasher had been the team’s leading scorer most of the season and scored 21 points and 10 rebounds against Georgetown. Harkless, though, has reached double figures once in the last three games and is shooting 28.2 percent.

BASKETBALL PREDICTION: Hoyas 70, Red Storm 58.

Bet on NCAA College Basketball games with Justbet Sportsbook , Bet now!

Related Articles

• NCAA Vegas Prediction: Connecticut Huskies vs Georgetown Hoyas
• NCAA Picks and Tips: Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Georgetown Hoyas
• NCAA Basketball Prediction: Villanova Wildcats vs Georgetown Hoyas
• Sat Feb 4th NCAA Picks: South Florida Bulls at Georgetown Hoyas
• NCAA Basketball Prediction and Scores: Rutgers at Georgetown

Category

• NCAA Basketball Articles
• NCAA Basketball Matchup

Tags

dangelo harrison - georgetown hoyas - hollis thompson - jason clark - jeremy lamb - malik stith - moe harkless - st. johns red storm - verizon center

Share this page