BetsByBob College Basketball Saturday Picks: Pirates defeat the Red Storm

Seton Hall blocks shot from UConn

Coming off a strong 2-0 showing on my Pickswise article from Thursday, we look to keep the positive momentum rolling. There is a lot to get into on a packed Saturday, so let me give you two of my favorite plays. Make sure you also check out the rest of our picks on the side and total for all of the day’s action.

Seton Hall Pirates -1 to beat St. John’s Red Storm (-105)

*Playable to -2.5

The Big East conference is wrapping up tomorrow, but there are still many question marks going into the tournaments. Seton Hall has been a team of runs, looking unstoppable at times, and at others wondering how they even got in that conversation in the first place. Wins at UConn, Xavier, and a season sweep of Marquette shows the potential of this Pirates team. It appears that they have seemed to lack focus and execution at times; I don’t see that being the case on Saturday.

Seton Hall comes into this game on a three-game losing streak, and that is as far as it goes. St. John’s came back on Tuesday trailing the entire game to steal a win from Providence, and are looking to add to their momentum. The Red Storm like to push the tempo, and they are going to have trouble against a Pirates team that will cause trouble with their length. Look for Sandro Mamukelaskvili to get inside and often, while opening up the potent Seton Hall deep ball to put away St. John’s.

USC Trojans -2 to beat UCLA Bruins (-105)

*Playable to -3

USC drives to the hoop

Credit: © Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

With the regular season rapidly coming to a close, teams are looking to end on a high note and go into tournament time with some momentum. This is going to be a tough matchup for the Bruins, however, who are looking to bounce back from a disappointing collapse against Oregon, a game in which they were winning the majority of the time.

This, however, is not the ideal matchup to get back on the winning path. The Bruins are running into a lengthy and athletic Trojans team that will swarm you in a hurry. USC is one of the largest backcourts in the country, with the help of the Mobely brothers. USC runs a rotation of 4 guys who are all 6’7″ or taller, making it a tough task for UCLA to get inside. I see the Trojans controlling the tempo here as well as getting to the rim at ease. I am predicting a comfortable Trojans win to end their regular season and roll into conference tournament play.

Be sure to check out our full game preview for USC Trojans vs. UCLA Bruins.

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