St. John’s is 2-1 on the road this season, two of those wins came against sub-par teams of Florida State and Temple. Their one road loss was at a good Iowa State team. Now, they face a Villanova Wildcat team that has not been the same without Jay Wright, but have played better with Cam Whitmore returning. The Wildcats will try to take the Red Storm out of their element, controlling the pace with the home court advantage and fans behind them. They’re also number two in the country front the free-throw line, 82.3 percent. I’m on Villanova.

St. John’s has impressed record-wise at 11-1, but oddsmakers know of its struggles once Big East play begins. In the 2019 season , the Red Storm started 11-2 but lost six of their first seven Big East games. Last season, they were 8-2 in non-conference, then dropped five of their first seven conference games. Villanova may be adjusting without Jay Wright, but match up well with the Johnnies. Back the Wildcats.