The Johnnies played their hearts out against Villanova on Saturday. They came up short and then allowed their frustrations to boil over in a road loss to DePaul which saw them play very little defense.
The letdown marked their fourth loss in as many games and has brought a once 9-3 team to an extremely mediocre perception highlighted by an 0-4 conference record.
For Providence, they recently snapped a three game losing streak via a home win over Georgetown which saw them with several glaring match-up advantages. They are a team which shows signs of brilliance at times, but often fade away in similar fashion to their opponent here.
Providence’s lineup has been boosted by the efforts of Carson Desrosiers, a seven foot Wake forest transfer who is averaging close to 20 MPG since early December. Desrosiers provides a nice third option behind Kadeem Batts and Tyler Harris inside, and he should help neutralize a St. Johns front court that features four quality bodies.
These two teams are actually incredibly similar, but the Johnnies have several critical advantages, primarily in the form of depth. They have a nice stable of guards, and Providence has struggled with balancing a back court that is reeling in the wake of the Kris Dunn injury.
Bryce Cotton has been asked to do an awful lot at the point position, and he could be due to wear down. The 6’1 senior has played the following minute totals in his last eight games: 40,38,50,45,39,39,40,40. That is not good news, and I think this is a game where St. Johns, a team that enjoys playing up tempo, could thrive.
This game opened with St. John’s as 3.5 point favorites. It has since been bet up into the 4/4.5 range. I like St. John’s here. These teams are virtually even and this game holds some legitimate situational advantages for Sgeve Lavin’s club.
St. John’s -4
