St. John's Red Storm vs Xavier Musketeers Prediction, 1/24/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: St. John's Red Storm vs Xavier Musketeers

Date: Saturday, January 24, 2026

Location: Cintas Center in Cincinnati, OH

TV: ESPN+

The St. John's Red Storm (14-5) are en route to Cintas Center on Saturday where they will try to defeat the Xavier Musketeers (11-8).

The St. John's Red Storm stepped onto the hardwood against Seton Hall and took home the win by a score of 65-60 in their last game. St. John's finished having earned a 35.6% FG percentage (21 of 59) and converted 2 out of their 12 shots from distance. From the free throw line, the Red Storm made 21 of 30 shots for a rate of 70.0%. Pertaining to pulling down boards, they collected 35 with 16 of them being on the offensive end. They also dished out 14 assists in the game while forcing 12 turnovers and earning 8 steals. Concerning the defense, St. John's allowed 37.9% from the floor on 22 of 58 shooting. Seton Hall doled out 11 dimes and had 8 steals in this game. Moreover, Seton Hall pulled down 37 rebounds (15 offensive, 22 defensive), but wasn't able to record a rejection. Seton Hall finished the contest at 55.0% from the free throw line by making 11 of their 20 tries. They made 5 of 13 tries from 3-point range. Concerning fouls, the Red Storm ended up with 12 and Seton Hall accumulated 25 fouls.

Dillon Mitchell is one player who played a role in this contest. He ended up walking away with 17 points on 7 out of 14 shooting. He was on the court for 36 mins and also snagged 11 rebounds. He ended up shooting 50.0% from the field and also earned 1 assist.

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St. John's comes into this game with a win-loss record of 14-5 this season. They turn the ball over 11.7 times per contest and as a team they commit 17.9 fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, St. John's is grabbing 38.5 rebounds per contest and has tallied 306 assists on the year, which is 96th in D-1 in terms of passing the rock. The Red Storm are hitting 35.2% on shots from beyond the arc (146 of 415) and 73.4% from the charity stripe. They average 84.9 points per contest (41st in the nation) while connecting on 46.3% from the field.

On the defensive end of the court, the Red Storm are able to force 15.1 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 20.8 personal fouls. They relinquish 32.6% on three-point shots and they are ranked 137th in college hoops in PPG from their opponents (72.1). The Red Storm are allowing an opponent FG percentage of 42.2% (484 of 1,146) and they relinquish 34.5 rebounds per contest as a team. They are ranked 59th in college in giving up assists to the opposition with 224 surrendered on the year.

The last time they took the hardwood, the Xavier Musketeers went home defeated by a final of 94-93 when they faced Creighton. When talking about team rebounding, Xavier permitted Creighton to pull down 26 overall (5 offensive). They went 54.2% from 3-point land by going 13 out of 24 and walked away from this one shooting 17 of 24 from the free throw line (70.8%). The Musketeers permitted Creighton to knock down 32 out of 59 attempts from the field which left them with a shooting percentage of 54.2% for the matchup. When the game finished, the Musketeers finished 37 out of 65 from the floor which had them shooting 56.9%. Regarding shooting from downtown, Xavier knocked down 12 of their 24 tries (50.0%). They were able to bury 7 of those for a rate of 87.5%. Creighton earned 12 personal fouls in this matchup which got the Musketeers to the free throw line for a total of 8 tries. They gave up possession of the ball 9 times, while getting 4 steals for this contest. The Musketeers were able to corral 23 defensive rebounds and 5 offensive rebounds for a total of 28 in the game.

Tre Carroll was important for the Musketeers for this game. He converted 12 out of 14 in this contest giving him a rate of 85.7%, and earned 4 rebounds. He earned 29 points in his 35 mins on the hardwood and had 2 assists in this game.

Xavier has a win-loss mark of 11-8 so far this season. As an offensive unit, the Musketeers are shooting 43.5% from the floor, which has them ranked 279th in the country. Xavier has scored 1,487 pts on the campaign (78.3 per contest) and they average 35.6 boards per game. Their rate of earning assists is at 19.0 times per game (10th in D-1) and they turn the ball over 9.6 times per game. The Musketeers commit 17.7 fouls every game while shooting 69.4% from the free throw line.

The Musketeers are ranked 260th in D-1 in points given up per game with 76.6. They are forcing their opponents into 12.4 turnovers on a nightly basis and have allowed teams to shoot 46.6% from the field (313th in college hoops). The Xavier defense gives up 34.1% from downtown (141 of 414) and opponents are connecting on 68.0% of their free throw shots. They surrender 18.2 assists and 37.9 boards on a nightly basis, which has them ranked 360th and 333rd in those categories.

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Xavier

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