As we head down the stretch in college hoops, the cream has to rise to the top. But some teams may have had their rhythm altered a little by pandemic-related issues.

We’re going to be using one of those teams on Wednesday, and we’ll tell you exactly why. As for the other, we have a nice matchup advantage with one of the premier teams in the country.

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Villanova Wildcats at St. John’s Red Storm Picks

Villanova vs. St. John’s Betting Trends

Tip-off: 9 PM ET

College Basketball Odds: Villanova -9

St. John’s is going through its best stretch of the season right now, having won four games in a row. And two of those victories have been upsets, over UConn and Marquette. So they have reason to feel very good about themselves right now.

But this is one situation where they could be reaching a little too far.

Here we have what is called a “bad matchup” for St. John’s. The Red Storm strives to force mistakes on the part of their opponents, but Jay Wright’s team doesn’t make them. Or at least they don’t make many of them.

The third-ranked Wildcats have committed a turnover on just 12.3% of their possessions. That is the best figure in the country right now. So Mike Anderson’s squad will have to go with Plan B.

But does that even exist? Not sure about that. What we know is that ‘Nova shoots well enough, if not lights-out, from the outside (37.5% triples) and has demonstrated the ability to take to the road and win against good teams, including highly-ranked Texas.

We absolutely admire the progress of freshman guard Posh Richardson, who has made 23 steals in his last six games, including six against Marquette. But his impact is minimized to an extent by Villanova’s ability to control the ball.

The hope for St. John’s is that they can really catch fire from the field, as we would not consider perimeter defense to be Villanova’s strong suit. But you can count on one thing – the ‘Cats are going to make this Red Storm offense work like hell for a good shot, and Anderson’s squad isn’t going to control the tempo either.

If you look at what Villanova has done against this level of opposition, they can get this margin.

The Play: VILLANOVA -9

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Saint Louis Billikens at LaSalle Explorers Picks

Saint Louis vs. LaSalle Betting Trends

Tip-off: 7 PM ET

College Basketball Odds: Saint Louis -11

How about THIS for an unusual situation – the Saint Louis Billikens have played just ONE time in the last 41 days. So if you wanted to know what COVID can do to a basketball schedule, well, you’re seeing it.

So maybe it was understandable that they were somewhat rusty in their game a week ago against Dayton, where they made just a trio of three-pointers and pulled down only two offensive rebounds.

So they have now played themselves out of the AP basketball poll. Can they play themselves back in? This game with LaSalle likely won’t be a barometer of that, but they have a big number to carry, for our purposes anyway.

And they had to postpone a game against Richmond this week.

There is no question the Bills have superior personnel, including Javonte Perkins, who has made 50% of his three-point attempts, and Jordan Goodwin, who, we’re sure, is the best 6-3 rebounder in the nation, having reached double-digits in that category in eight out of nine games.

The question is whether they have shaken enough rust.

They don’t have to rely on triples to win, which is a good thing, but it is worth noting that they are in the nation’s top 30 in both two AND three-point accuracy.

And while LaSalle has been able to rise to the occasion to upset Dayton and Richmond, they haven’t risen to the occasion enough; out of their ten losses, only Army has failed to beat them by double digits.

The Explorers simply don’t explore the free throw line enough – just 12.7% of their points come from there. They are not getting a lot of second-shot opportunities, as Saint Louis does far too good a job on the defensive boards. And the ball-hawking Billikens have the ability to turn them over – a lot. That is, if they are on their game.

Hey – a rusty effort resulted in just a five-point loss to a decent team last time out, and with St. Bonaventure next up on the schedule, we’re expecting coach Travis Ford to coax a focused effort out of this crew in preparation for that.

The Play: SAINT LOUIS -11

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