Hot St. John’s, Bubble Marquette in Free Basketball Picks Game

The hot St. John’s Red Storm travel to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to take on the Marquette Golden Eagles in what’s shaping up as a key Big East matchup.  The Red Storm versus Golden Eagles battle is also one of my free basketball betting picks for the night.

St. John’s has won four out of their last five games.  Among the foes that have fallen to them in their last four games have been both Duke and Connecticut.  Now, St. John’s travels to Marquette to take on the Golden Eagles on the road.  Can the Red Storm continue to surge towards a March Madness berth?

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St. John’s Red Storm (15-9) at Marquette Golden Eagles (15-10)

Where:  Bradley Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

When:  Feb. 15th, 2010 at 9:00 pm EST

TV:  ESPNU

NCAAB Betting Lines 15-10)

St. John’s Red Storm              +6 ½ -110        O 142 -110

Marquette Golden Eagles       -6 ½ -110         U 142 -110     

Check out some trends for this game.

• The St. John’s Red Storm is 1 and 4 ATS in their last 5 road games.
• The St. John’s Red Storm is 2-5-1 ATS in the last 8 meetings.
• The Marquette Golden Eagles are 4 and 1 ATS in their last 5 home games.
• The Marquette Golden Eagles are 1 and 5 ATS in their last 6 games following an ATS loss.

These two teams haven’t met since last year.  Obviously, with Steve Lavin now at the helm, the St. John’s Red Storm is a much better team this season than they were last season.  But Lavin can’t be the sole reason that St. John’s is one of the better free basketball picks to cover the spread on Feb. 15th.

In fact, I don’t believe that St. John’s is necessarily a good team to back against the spread in this contest.  St. John’s has been on a roll, but Marquette appears to be the overall better team.  Marquette was in control on the road versus the excellent Georgetown Hoyas in their last game.  They had a 35 to 31 lead going into halftime of that contest.  The Golden Eagles allowed the Hoyas to outscore them 38 to 25 in the second half and ended up losing 60 to 69.

Against St. John’s on Tuesday night, a melt down like that just shouldn’t occur.  The Golden Eagles are 5 and 3 ATS at home this season.  They’ve covered spreads versus Syracuse and Notre Dame.  The Golden Eagles have been competitive versus Syracuse, Louisville and Villanova.  If they come out and play the way that they’re capable of playing, then they should cover the spread in this game.

In fact, it’s the Golden Eagles, who are receiving only 38% of the support from college hoops betting handicappers that is one of the better free basketball picks to cover the spread in the sportsbook on Tuesday night.  Marquette’s back is against the wall just like St. John’s.  They should be able to cover the spread versus the Red Storm who are due for a let down after playing so well versus Duke, Connecticut and Cincinnati.

I’m going to back the Marquette Golden Eagles to cover the spread in their home game versus the St. John’s Red Storm on Tuesday, February 15th.  Marquette is the team to back ATS on Tuesday night. 

NCAA Odds Betting Pick:  Marquette -6 ½ 

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