St. John's Red Storm vs Duke Blue Devils: Predictions, Odds and Roster Notes

Where: Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina

When: Saturday, February 2nd at 12:00 PM EST

How (TV): ESPN

St. John’s Red Storm(Away)

Head Coach: Chris Mullin {Overall: 16-5 .762 W-L% | Conference: 4-5, 3rd in Big East}

St. John’s face off against the Duke Blue Devils after soundly defeating the Creighton Blue Jays in their most recent match. The Red Storm are 2-4 in their last six games and look to secure a positive record on their short three-game road trip by taking one from the Blue Devils.

As always the St. John’s Red Storm will be depending on the playmaking of crafty junior guard Shamorie Ponds. Fans around the world will remember his performance to defeat the Blue Devils last season at Madison Square Garden and he has only improved since he returned this season.

Duke are a different team this year compared to last time the Red Storm defeated the Blue Devils. This Duke team is capable defensively. While St. John’s has shown the capacity to score in difficult situations, they will have to be more disciplined with their shot selection in order to limit the Blue Devils fast break.

Duke Blue Devils(Home)

Head Coach: Mike Krzyzewski {Overall: 18-2 .900 W-L% | Conference: 7-1, 1st in ACC}

When Duke takes on St. John’s they will be facing out of conference competition for the last time this season. Led by ACC Freshman of the Week RJ Barrett, they take on a St. John’s squad that upset them in a thriller at Madison Square Garden last season.

Duke completed January with a record of 7-1, which is their best January performance since 2009. They will be in it tough as St. John’s, who are third in the Big East, have shown some gritty play to give Duke some problems.

Duke will very likely switch on every screen against St. John’s. Considering the scoring ability of Shamorie Ponds and Mustapha Heron, Duke will not want to be caught in too many dangerous matchups.

St. John’s Roster Notes

G Mikey Dixon – 03 Jan 2019 – (transfer) has left the team.

Duke Roster Notes

Duke has no roster injuries to note.

Head-to-Head: Shamorie Ponds vs Zion Williamson

Shamorie Ponds

Guard | 6-1, 170lb (185cm, 77kg) | Thomas Jefferson High School | Brooklyn, NY | Junior

20.9 PPG | 2.8 APG | 4.5 RPG | 2.8 SPG | 0.3 BPG | 2.2 TOV | .495 FG% | .388 3P%

Zion Williamson

Forward | 6-7, 285lb (201cm, 129kg) | Spartanburg Day School | Spartanburg, SC | Freshman

22.0 PPG | 2.4 APG | 9.2 RPG | 2.0 SPG | 2.0 BPG | 2.3 TOV | .681 FG% | .289 3P%

Duke and St. John’s will be releasing two of their dangerous offensive weapons on each other when they face off. Shamorie Ponds is a crafty point guard that can score from anywhere and make plays against any defence. Zion Williamson on the other side is a man amongst boys. It will be interesting to see how these two stars lead their squads.

If you want to talk about a hard-nosed, New York point guard, look no further than Brooklyn native Shamorie Ponds. After pulling out of the NBA Draft in 2018, Ponds returned to St. John’s to hone his game for another season and it has paid dividends. Just as dangerous as ever as a scorer, Ponds has taken a leap in his playmaking ability. St. John’s depend on Ponds to make plays for them so look for him to be more selfish against the Blue Devils.

What more is there to say about Zion Williamson? He doesn’t have an athletic match against anyone in the country, his handle is more developed than expected, and he’s shown enough shooting range to keep passive defences honest. The Red Storm have shown that they can be tenacious defenders when necessary. Duke will look to push the ball in transition to get past St. John’s suffocating half-court D.

St. John’s Red Storm at Duke Blue Devils Predictions and Odds

The odds makers have the Duke Blue Devils favoured over the St. John’s Red Storm by 18.5, with an over/under of 110.