St. John’s and Auburn Clash in High-Stakes Showdown: Who Will Sink the Most Buckets?

Alright, so here we are again—fresh off a sweet win from yesterday’s college hoops action and thinking, “Why stop now?” Before we all get swallowed up by the Thanksgiving chaos, this St. John’s vs. Auburn matchup at 8:00 ET demands some eyeballs. College basketball in November? It’s a goldmine. But here’s my question: Can a St. John’s squad that’s underwhelmed early in the season snap out of its funk against an Auburn team still figuring out how to replace its departed heart and soul? Both are defense-challenged and scoring machines—meaning this could turn into a track meet of missed stops and fast breaks. And with both teams on the brink of fatigue after consecutive days of play, expect defenses to crack even more… and points to pile up. If you’re wondering whether defenses or offenses will dictate the tempo, well, that’s the million-dollar suspense. Buckle up, ’cause this one’s a toss-up with a high-scoring thriller vibe. LEARN MORE

St. John’s vs. Auburn, 8:00 ET

We were able to get a nice hit in our game that we played yesterday in college hoops, so I’m thinking we might as well press our luck. Before Thanksgiving, a lot of the world should be paying attention to college basketball tournaments, because these are usually really good hoops. I get it, we all have stuff to do, and we are all trying to just get to the holiday without too much trouble. Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered! Let’s get down to brass tax here and get a win as St. John’s takes on Auburn.

St. John’s entered the season with high expectations, but through six games, they have definitely not lived up to those expectations. They are just 4-2 for the season, and to be honest, I’m a bit concerned about how good this team actually is. I know that will bother my guy, Geoff Clark, who is an alumnus, but I’m not liking this early season version of St. John’s. Their first lost of the season was a respectable loss, falling to Alabama, but the problem I have with it is two-fold: One, their defense was phenomenal last year, and they allowed 103 points to an Alabama team that should’ve just been trying to figure out who would be their scoring threat after losing Mark Sears. The other problem that I have is that they were the home team. Early in the season, that’s a huge advantage. Hell, it is a huge advantage late in the season, and they couldn’t capitalize. Their next loss came earlier this week in the tournament as they dropped a game to Iowa State, also a respectable opponent. It was a one-point loss, so it wasn’t like it was ugly or anything, but they gave up the lead late and couldn’t get the stop and score they needed to take the final lead.

Auburn is a team that has had to make a massive transformation this season. Last year, they had Johnni Broome, who is now with the Philadelphia 76ers and playing very few minutes. Simply put, Broome was very good for them last season and was not only a scoring and rebounding leader for them, he was kind of the heart and soul of the team. Losing a guy like that makes it very difficult for a team to rebuild, even in good programs. So far, Auburn is ranked 21st in the rankings, but they are just 5-2 overall. I think you can make a case that these were good losses even if yesterday’s was very ugly. The first loss was one they dropped to Houston by just one point. This was a neutral court game, but seeing as how it was in Birmingham, Alabama, that feels like more of a home game for Auburn than it was for Houston. Yesterday, they dropped the game to Michigan by 30. That was an ugly loss. I would expect head coach Bruce Pearl to emphasize some defensive pressure today.

This is one of the games that I think will be most fun to watch. It really wouldn’t surprise me if St. John’s won the game by 1 or 10, or lost it. There are far too many possibilities when it comes to the spread in this game. Auburn is going to try and adjust significantly on that side of the game after giving up 102 yesterday. However, it isn’t that easy. Both teams are averaging around 90 points per game, and allowing around 75. Now playing for the third straight day, these guys legs will be tired on defense and give up a lot of easy buckets. Expect a higher score and take the over.

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