St. John’s begins its first NCAA Tournament in six years on Thursday night in Providence, the No. 2 seed taking on the Summit League champions, No. 15 Omaha.
The Red Storm are coming off one of their most successful seasons in 40 years, buoyed by the Hall-of-Fame head coach Rick Pitino, now in his second season with the program.
St. John’s won 30 games for just the third time ever, on its way to its first outright Big East regular-season title since 1985 and its first Big East Tournament championship since 2000.
One of the hottest teams in the country, currently on a nine-game winning streak, will try to build on that to eradicate another dry spell. The Johnnies have not advanced past the second round of the NCAA Tournament since 1999, when they made a run to the Elite Eight.
2025 NCAA Tournament First Round: No. 2 St. John’s vs. No. 15 Omaha
How to Watch
- Date: Thursday, March 20
- Time: 9:45 p.m. ET
- Location: Amica Mutual Pavilion, Providence, RI
- TV: CBS
- Live Stream: NCAA.com
Tale of the Tape
| No. 2 St. John’s | STAT | No. 15 Omaha |
| Big East | Conference | Summit League |
| 30-4 (18-2 Big East) | Record | 22-12 (13-3 Summit) |
| 78.7 (65th in NCAA) | Points Per Game | 78.1 (75th) |
| 65.9 (31st) | Points Allowed Per Game | 75.0 (266th) |
| 13th | NET Ranking | 160th |
| 65th | Strength of Schedule | 233rd |
| Automatic (Big East winners) | Bid | Automatic (Summit League winners) |
On paper, this should be an easier test for St. John’s to get their feet wet at the Big Dance. Especially at the bottom of the West Regional bracket, which would feature a second-round matchup between the winners of No. 7, Kansas, and No. 10, Arkansas.
Omaha’s offense scores at a comparable rate compared to St. John’s, with a better three-point percentage (36.7% to 30.4%), but they have not faced a defense like the Red Storm’s.
St. John’s is no stranger to stopping the likes of Omaha’s leading scorer, Marquel Sutton, who is averaging 19.1 points per game this season. They have clamped down some of the Big East’s very best, including Butler’s Jahmyl Telfort on multiple occasions. The star forward, who averaged 16 points on 47% shooting this season, averaged 11.6 points on 35% shooting in three games, including a 3-of-10 showing in the Big East quarterfinals.
The Red Storm has a massive edge on the glass, further implying the physical discrepancy between the two teams. The Johnnies rank sixth in the nation with 40.9 rebounds per game. Omaha ranks 162nd.
Expect Pitino’s men to be extra aggressive cutting to the basket and drawing contact, even with their struggles at the charity stripe this season. Omaha ranks 301st in Division I with a staggering 18.4 fouls per game.
It bodes especially well for the three-headed attack of RJ Luis, Kadary Richmond, and Zuby Ejiofor, all of whom have no issue getting to the line on any given night. It feels like Omaha would have to have an other-worldly night shooting from three to pull off the upset.
Stats courtesy of the NCAA
