St. John’s Red Storm at Georgetown Hoyas, Verizon Center, Washington, DC
Wednesday, January 26, 2011, 7:00 pm Eastern, TV: ESPN3
Opening Line: Georgetown -8.5
Current Line: Georgetown -8.5
Opening Total: 140
Current Total: 139
Money Line: Georgetown -400 / St. John’s +330
The 21st-ranked Georgetown Hoyas (14-5, 3-4 Big East) will be out to avenge a 61-58 loss at St. John’s on January 3 when they host the Red Storm (11-7, 4-4) on Wednesday. The Hoyas (-8.5) were 2-point road favorites in the first meeting and have failed to cover the last five games between the teams dating back to 2008. Three of those last five meetings also resulted in straight-up wins for St. John’s.
That loss started a three-game losing streak for Georgetown, but the team has since rebounded with consecutive road wins at Rutgers and Seton Hall. A big reason behind the recent turnaround is the improved play of leading scorer Austin Freeman, who has 53 points in the last two games after totaling 50 in the previous four games combined. Freeman was voted the Big East Preseason Player of the Year but scored just six points in the first meeting with the Red Storm.
The Hoyas are not the only team that has struggled since then, as St. John’s has dropped four of its last five games. The Red Storm looked like they could earn an invitation to the NCAA tournament during a five-game winning streak that was capped by the victory against Georgetown, but a very difficult stretch that includes eight straight games against Top 25 opponents might end up crushing their chances.
St. John’s has split two games with Notre Dame since beating the Hoyas but also fell to Syracuse, Louisville and Cincinnati, with two of those losses coming at home. The Red Storm have also dropped their last two on the road following impressive wins at West Virginia and Providence in their first two league games. The team’s most recent loss though may have been the most frustrating due to a 12-for-26 performance at the free-throw line that resulted in a 53-51 loss to the Bearcats, who went to the charity stripe just seven times.
If past history is any indication, you can expect another low-scoring game between St. John’s and Georgetown. The UNDER is 7-1 in the last eight meetings, and the Red Storm has scored progressively less over their past three games overall. The Hoyas may be averaging 77 points in winning their past two overall, but they had scored 59 or less in four of their previous five. Georgetown failed to cover all five games during that stretch while St. John’s is 1-4 against the spread in its past five.
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