St. John’s vs. Seton Hall prediction and odds for Saturday, December 31 (Seton Hall’s losing streak continues)

The Seton Hall Pirates certainly want to leave this Big East losing streak in 2022. Shaheen Holloway will certainly want to finish his personally incredible year with a win.

The Pirates have lost three-straight in conference play and have fallen to 7-7. St. John’s has lost two in a row in the Big East, 78-63 to Villanova and 84-79 to Xavier. The Johnnies are 11-4, but just 1-2 in the conference.

It’s a noon tip-off in New Jersey, so let’s get into the odds for the early game on the college basketball slate today.

St. John’s vs. Seton Hall odds, spread and total

St. John’s vs. Seton Hall prediction and pick

St. John’s is No. 61 in KenPom and Seton Hall is No. 67, yet they have very different records and play contrasting styles. The Johnnies want to get out and run, ranking fifth in adjusted tempo, 18th in possessions per game and 86th in offensive efficiency.

They’re still figuring out a balance in their backcourt with Posh Alexander and Andre Curbelo, but they both push in transition and let Joel Soriano and David Jones do the scoring down low.

Seton Hall wants to play in the half-court and slow things down. Holloway’s Pirates are 205th in adjusted tempo and 234th in offensive efficiency. They’re only scoring 68.6 points a game, the lowest in the Big East, but they’re allowing 63.9 per game, second to only No. 2 UConn in the conference. Though points per game doesn’t tell the whole story because Seton Hall’s pace influences that number, the team is 63rd in defensive efficiency and St. John’s is 54th. Even though the Johnnies allow 69.5 points per night.

The Pirates are favorites at home and maybe they’ll be able to slow it down and turn it into a half-court game, but St. John’s is still more efficient on both ends of the court, so I’ll take the Johnnies to win outright as an underdog.

Follow all Josh Yourish’s bets HERE

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change