St. John’s enters the game with an 11-2 record on the season and 1-1 in Big East play after falling to Villanova in their most recent contest. While the Red Storm have a nice looking overall mark, they could be considered a paper tiger as their current strength of schedule ranks outside of the top 300 in the nation.

Head coach Mike Anderson is in his fourth season with the program and may start feeling some heat in his seat if an NCAA Tournament berth is not on the horizon. Anderson failed to put much of a resume together during the out-of-conference schedule, with their best victories coming against Syracuse (NET 159) and Nebraska (NET 76).

They were able to defeat historically valuable Florida State, but the Seminoles are struggling this season with a record of just 4-10 and a NET ranking of 250.

The Storm are led this season by a strong upperclassmen collection on the season. Forwards Joel Soriano and David Jones lead the team in scoring and rebounding, combining to put 30 points and over 20 rebounds in the book every night.

Former Illinois point guard Andre Curbelo is third on the club in terms of scoring at 10.9 points per game while leading the team in assists at nearly five per contest.

Curbelo teams with fellow junior Posh Alexander to form one of the best defensive backcourts in the country in terms of steals, combining for 3.9 steals per game. Alexander is also putting nearly 10 points on the board per game while falling just short of Curbelo in assists at 4.8 helpers per contest.

Xavier Is Finding The Form

The Musketeers boast one of the most underrated guards in the entire nation in Souley Boum. The 6 '3 senior is currently boasting a counting stat line of 17.3 points, 4.6 assists, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game while shooting a ridiculous 52.7 percent from behind the three-point line.

Of course, as is true with most quality college basketball teams, Boum is not the only threat. Coach Sean Miller is currently the beneficiary of three other players averaging over 14 points per game in forwards Jack Nunge and Zach Freemantle, along with guard Colby Jones.

Those four players combine to provide 61 of Xaviers 83.8 points per contest, while senior guard Adam Kunkel ranks fifth on the team in scoring at 10.8 points per contest.

Despite their recent consistency and victorious ways, the Musketeers have yet to master the ability to cover the spread. Xavier is a middle-of-the-pack team in the Big East at 6-6-1 against the spread on the season and have covered just four of their last seven games. Despite that, they are facing a St. John’s club that is not consistent at covering the number at home.

Cam Xavier cover as a -2 point favorite?

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