St. John's vs Northern Iowa: Game Preview & Best Bets (East Region, 2025-2026 NCAA Tournament)

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St. John's vs Northern Iowa: Game Preview

St. John's vs Northern Iowa is going to be a fun one to watch - and might be a possible upset alert for your bracket.

Northern Iowa should have the perfect antidote for the St. John's offense, as their pack line defense is going to force the Red Storm to beat them over the top. Northern Iowa also limits teams on the offensive glass and in transition, both areas that St. John's has depended on throughout the regular season and Big East tournament. Spoiler alert: We like Northern Iowa to cover here.

On the prop side, there's not much we like. Our first stop was to look at assist props for Dillon Mitchell and Zuby Ejiofor, as they'll see the most double teams on the inside, but both were listed at 3.5, and in a game with a lower total (131 as of writing), it's a bit too high for our liking. And while Oziyah Sellers will likely have to be the main guy to beat the Panthers over the top, but you can't rely on his minutes being there - he had 16 and 20 minutes in the final two Big East tournament games.

One area we'll consider is the over on Bryce Hopkins' threes. He's not a volume shooter from the outside, but in a game against Baylor earlier this season, which deploys a defense similar to Northern Iowa's stylistically, he hit three from beyond the arc. The price would have to be right for us to consider it, though.

St. John's vs Northern Iowa: Best Bets

• Northern Iowa +10.5 (currently at -105 on most books)

• Bryce Hopkins over 0.5 three pointers made, only if it is at -150 or better

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