How to Watch Where: University of Dayton Arena, in Dayton, OH, USA. When: Wednesday, March 20th, at 9:10pm EST. How (TV/Radio): TruTV; March Madness Live Stream on ncaa.com St. John’s Red Storm Head Coach: Chris Mullin{Overall: 21-12, .636 W-l% | Conference: 8-10, 7th in Big East} The Red Storm enter this play-in game as one of the last four teams in, and understandably so, having lost five of their last seven games. These losses include blowouts against Providence on February 20th and Marquette on March 14th in the Big East Tournament. The Johnnies are making their 30th NCAA Tournament, their first under current head coach and school alumnus, Chris Mullin. The Naismith Hall of Famer’s alma mater has experienced a cold spell in the Big Dance, not advancing past the Round of 32 since 1999, a year where the roster featured retired NBA veteran Ron Artest (now Metta World Peace). St. John’s is led by junior point guard, Shamorie Ponds, who is averaging 19.5 points per game this season. The Brooklyn native led the Big East in steals while ranking in the top five in scoring and assists. Ponds has performed well in neutral site games this season, with 35 and 37 point performances against VCU and Georgia Tech respectively, along with another 37 point outburst at Georgetown on January 5th. Arizona State Sun Devils Head Coach: Bobby Hurley {Overall: 22-10, .688 W-L% | Conference: 12-6, 2nd in Pac-12} Unlike St. John’s, the Sun Devils finished their season somewhat strong, winning six of their last eight games, with the two losses coming against Pac-12 Conference tournament champion, Oregon. Arizona State fell 79-75 to the Ducks in overtime in the Pac-12 semi-finals, putting up a better fight than their 79-51 road loss on February 28th in Eugene. Bobby Hurley’s squad returns to the tournament after appearing in the First Four round last year, losing to Syracuse. The former Duke point guard will aim to snap ASU out of it’s own March Madness funk, as the program has not advanced to the Sweet 16 since 1995. The Sun Devils are led by freshman guard, Luguentz Dort, who is the top scorer on the squad with 16.1 points per game. The 6-4 Canadian from Montreal has a knack for getting to the free throw lines, as his 195 free throw attempts ranked second in the Pac-12. Dort has performed well against tournament teams at neutral sites this year, as evidenced by his 33 and 24 point scoring efforts against Utah State and Nevada respectively. St. John’s Roster Notes There are no injuries or roster changes to report for St. John’s. Arizona State Roster Notes There are no injuries or roster changes to report for Arizona State. Head-to-Head: LJ Figueroa vs Zylan Cheatham LJ Figueroa Shooting Guard | 6-6, 195lb (198cm, 88kg) | West Oaks Academy (FL) | Lawrence, MA | Sophomore 14.3 PPG | 1.7 APG | 6.2 RPG | 1.8 SPG | 0.2 BPG | 1.3 TOV | .513 FG% | .375 3P% Zylan Cheatham Power Forward | 6-8, 220lb (203cm, 99kg) | South Mountain HS | Phoenix, AZ | Senior 11.8 PPG | 3.3 APG | 10.4 RPG | 0.8 SPG | 0.8 BPG | 3.1 TOV | .539 FG% | .435 3P% Rebounding is an aspect of basketball that is often overlooked by the casual fan but is critical to a team’s success. These two players have proven to be valuable to their teams in this regard, leading their squads in rebounds while also chipping in as scorers when necessary. Despite being a 6-6 perimeter player, LJ Figueroa has managed to lead the Johnnies in rebounding, largely due to there being only one player on the roster standing over 6-7. The Dominican sophomore has also been a pest on defense, ranking third in the Big East in steals, which was on full display in two games against Georgetown where he combined for ten steals. The Pac-12 leader in rebounds, Zylan Cheatham has been a trustworthy piece to coach Hurley’s rotation. The local product and former San Diego State Aztec has been a monster on the boards this year, racking up 20+ rebound performances against UCLA and arch-rival, Arizona. His ability to dominate the glass and contribute on offense has translated into 13 double-doubles this year which ranked third in the Pac-12. St. John’s vs Arizona State Predictions and Odds Most online sportsbooks are predicting a close game, as they favor Arizona State by 2 points over St. John’s. The most popular over/under amongst oddsmakers is currently 153.<doc-sep>The St. John’s Red Storm and the Arizona State Sun Devils meet in an NCAA Tournament first four matchup in college basketball action from the UD Arena on Wednesday night. The St. John’s Red Storm come into this tournament as a #11 seed, representing the Big East conference, finishing the year with a 21-12 overall record, including non-conference wins over VCU, Georgia Tech, Cal and Rutgers. The Red Storm finished the season with an 8-10 mark in Big East conference play, good enough for the 7th spot in the conference tournament, defeating DePaul in the opening round before bowing out to Marquette in the quarterfinals. Shamorie Ponds led the Red Storm in scoring and assists with 19.5 points and 5.2 assists per game while Mustapha Heron came 2nd in scoring with 14.9 points per game and LJ Figueroa had 14.3 points along with a team-high 6.2 rebounds per game. Marvin Clark II had 10.8 points per game and Justin Simon chipped in 10.4 points per game as St. John’s 5th double-digit scorer on the year. As a team, St. John’s is averaging 77.5 points per game on 45.4% shooting from the field, 36.1% from behind the arc and 72.5% from the foul line this season. The Arizona State Sun Devils come into the tournament as a #11 seed, finishing the year with a 22-10 overall record, including non-conference wins over Kansas, Utah State and Mississippi State as well as losses to Nevada, Vanderbilt and Princeton. The Sun Devils finished conference play at 12-6, good enough for the 2nd seed in the conference tournament where the Sun Devils took down UCLA before falling to eventual tournament champion Oregon in overtime. Luguentz Dort led the Sun Devils in scoring with 16.1 points per game while Remy Martin came 2nd in scoring while leading the Sun Devils in assists with 13.4 points and 5.1 assists per game. Zylan Cheatham came 3rd in scoring while averaging a double-double per game with 11.8 points and a team-high 10.4 rebounds per game. Rob Edwards averaged 11.3 points per game. As a team, Arizona State is averaging 77.8 points per game on 44.7% shooting from the field, 34.1% from behind the arc and 67.1% from the foul line this season. St. John’s is 0-5 ATS in their last 5 NCAA tournament games and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall while the over is 4-1 in their last 5 games following a loss. Arizona State is 3-1-1 ATS in their last 5 neutral site games and 1-4-1 ATS in their last 6 non-conference games while the under is 5-2 in their last 7 games overall. You can make a case for either side being favored, however Arizona State did have a better showing in conference play this season. With that said, the Pac-12 wasn’t as strong as it has normally been in years past, and while St. John’s faltered a bit, the Red Storm did have some tough opposition in the likes of Marquette, Xavier and Villanova on their side. These first round games will be tight as neither side will want to make a mistake that could end their tournament run early, and in those tight types of games, I tend to try to be on the side that’s the better side from the foul line. Both sides have scoring depth, but the Red Storm have an experienced group that can handle these pressure situations late. I’ll take the free point with St. John’s in this one. Chris’s Pick St. John's +1 The pick in this article is the opinion of the writer, not a Sports Chat Place site consensus.<doc-sep>Wednesday’s First Four game in the 2019 NCAA Tournament matching No. 11 seeds St. John’s and Arizona State (truTV, 9:10 p.m.) presents quite a handicapping challenge for bettors. VSiN has talked often on these pages about the inconsistency of St. John’s. Its highlights include a 3-1 straight up regular-season record versus No. 5 seed Marquette, and No. 6 seed Villanova. Lowlights were ugly, many coming recently. Counting a 32-point loss to Marquette in the Big East Tournament, the Red Storm’s last five point-spread misses have been by 28¹/₂ , (Marquette), 11¹/₂, (Xavier), 11¹/₂ (DePaul), 15¹/₂ (Xavier), and 18 points (Providence). When March Madness point spreads were first posted Sunday evening, there was a clear sharp preference for Arizona State at pick ’em, but support for St. John’s at outlier stores that tested ASU as a two-point favorite. Game-day public betting will determine if the number moves off the early-week resting place of ASU -1. • The case for betting St. John’s: This is about the best Chris Mullin and his squad could hope for in terms of a matchup. Both teams like to run the ball, ranking top 50 in Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted pace rankings. ASU has a mediocre defense by Dance standards, entering the week ranked 79th in Pomeroy’s adjusted defensive efficiency rankings (points allowed, adjusted for possessions and schedule). This means that the talented scorers of St. John’s have a chance to control their own destiny against a vulnerable defense that hasn’t seen them firsthand. At least, the door is open for the “best” of inconsistent St. John’s to appear. • The case against betting St. John’s: This isn’t currently a Dance-caliber team. As VSiN reported last week, the Red Storm had the worst Big East margin average over the final nine games of league play. That was before the Marquette mauling! Both Pomeroy and the NCAA’s “NET” ranking have St. John’s well below standard. It’s tough to earn an at-large bid outside the top 50. Pomeroy ranked the Red Storm at No. 78 entering the new week, NET No. 73. Arizona State also has been inconsistent this season, but is in good form of late. No shame in an overtime loss to Oregon in the semifinals of the Pac-12 tournament played in Las Vegas. Oregon is priced in a virtual toss-up this week with No. 5 seed Wisconsin. Prior to that result (which was a point-spread cover at the 40-minute mark), ASU had covered three in a row, and five of its last seven. That includes outright road upsets of Arizona, Oregon State, and Utah. If recent form rules the day, Arizona State “cheap” is a steal that could cover by double-digits. If St. John’s still has the focus and drive to exploit a favorable matchup, its version that outplayed Villanova and Marquette in composite during the regular season could certainly launch the Red Storm to a “round of 64” meeting with No. 6 seed Buffalo (another pace fiend). Good luck if you bet! Get more betting information like this by signing up for VSiN’s free daily newsletter at VSiN.com/newsletter.<doc-sep>
St. John’s vs. Arizona State 2019 NCAA Tournament Betting Odds Odds: Arizona State -2 Over/Under: 153 Time: Wednesday, 9:10 p.m. ET TV: truTV Location: Dayton, Ohio >> All odds as of 7:30 a.m. ET. Download The Action Network App to get real-time odds and live win probabilities on your bets. St. John’s (11-14-2 against the spread) was the last team to make the NCAA Tournament field, earning the last at-large bid. But the Red Storm struggled in March, losing three consecutive regular season games to end the season. St. John’s is just 5-9-1 ATS on the road and failed to cover four of its last five regular season games. Arizona State (16-13-1 ATS) entered the Pac-12 Tournament winning five of its last six games, and won a tournament game over UCLA before falling to eventual champion Oregon. St. John’s is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2015, while Arizona State is playing in the First Four games for the second consecutive year. The Sun Devils lost 60-56 to Syracuse in Dayton last season. Mismatches When St. John’s Has the Ball Junior guard Shamorie Ponds (19.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 5.2 apg) is the engine that makes St. John’s go and one of the most electric scorers in the country with 10 games of 25 or more points. The Red Storm excel at limiting turnovers, ranking sixth nationally in offensive turnover percentage. They also are a respectable 91st in the country in 3P, shooting at 36.1% on the season. Much of that thanks to Ponds. St. John’s needs to score to make up for its poor offensive rebounding. The Red Storm rank 342nd in the nation in offensive rebounding percentage. Within Big East conference games, they ranked dead last on the offensive boards. What’s surprising is that their offense within the conference games has been very feast or famine. The Red Storm ranks eighth in the Big East in 2P% which is surprising given the great shot makers like Ponds, Mustapha Heron (14.9 ppg), and LJ Figueroa (14.3 ppg). Mismatches when Arizona State Has the Ball Arizona State is mediocre in all aspects on offense. The Sun Devils rank 186th in 3P percentage and 160th in 2P%. They are one of the worst free throw shooting teams averaging just 67.1% (300th). The ASU thrives in on the offensive boards, which will cause problems for St. John’s. Senior forward Zylan Cheatham (11.8 ppg, 10.4 rpg) will be the Sun Devils’ best offensive weapon and get every opportunity for a double-double, provided he avoids foul trouble. The biggest question for Arizona State will be: Can it win the turnover battle? In their respective conference games, the Sun Devils ranked eighth in offensive turnovers while St. John’s was second best in forcing turnovers. There is also a drastic difference in steal percentages: Arizona State allowing the second-most steals in the Pac-12 while St. John’s tallied the most defensive steals in the Big East. The Pick Both teams have offensive talent, but have been plagued by inconsistency all season. St. John’s has better offensive balance and the best player on the floor in Ponds. Arizona State will hurt the Red Storm on the boards, but that won’t be enough to steal the First Four win. Take St. John’s to produce a better all-around game and win the game outright in Dayton. THE PICK: St. John’s +2, would bet it up to St. John’s -2.5 Action Network Projected Spread Get point spreads for this game and every possible tournament matchup with our bracket simulator built by Sean Koerner, our Director of Predictive Analytics, a former oddsmaker and FantasyPros’ most accurate in-season fantasy football ranker from 2015-2017. Spread: Arizona State PK Arizona State PK Total: 147.5 147.5 Proj Score: Arizona State 74 | St. John’s 74 Arizona State 74 | St. John’s 74 Win Probability: Arizona State 50% | St. John’s 50% Editor’s note: The opinions on this game is from the individual writer and are based on his research, analysis and perspective. They are independent of, and may not always match with, the algorithm-driven Best Bets from Sports Insights.