The No. 2 seed in the West Region St. John’s Red Storm(31-4) is set to take on No. 10 seed Arkansas Razorbacks(21-13) in the 2nd Round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. This marquee matchup will take place Saturday afternoon in Providence, Rhode Island.
A huge storyline heading into this matchup is the matchup between Red Storm Head Coach Rick Pitino and Razorbacks Head Coach John Calipari. These head coaches both won National Championships with Kentucky. There is no love lost between the Hall of Fame coaches. Pitino poured cold water on the rivalry between head coaches heading into Saturday’s contest. “I don’t go against coaches, we play against teams.” Who will win this game and advance to the Sweet Sixteen?
St. John’s Red Storm Coming Off a Great Game
The Red Storm started slow against Omaha in the opening round, but they pulled away late. It led to St. John’s winning 83-53. They are one of the nation’s best second half teams. They proved it on Thursday night. They outscored the Omaha Mavericks 50-25 in the final half.
St. John’s has one of the best defenses in the nation, and they stifled Omaha’s offense. They held their opponent to a woeful 25.7% shooting from the field and 13.9% from the three-point range. The Red Storm have struggled on offense this season. That was not the case in 1st Round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Guard RJ Luis Jr. led the game with 22 points. He has found his footing as of late scoring 20+ points in six of his last seven games. Luis Jr. will need to be just as good against Arkansas on Saturday.
Arkansas Razorbacks Escape
Arkansas defeated the Kansas Jayhawks 79-72 to keep their dancing shoes on. The Razorbacks nearly blew the game coughing up a 10-point lead before regaining their form. Kansas made a jumper to go up 67-64 with 4:55 left in the second half. Arkansas outscored Kansas 15-5 from that point on. It clinched the game and punched their ticket to the 2nd Round.
Guard Johnell Davis was crucial for the Razorbacks down the stretch. He finished with 18 points including going 4-of-4 at the free-throw line to ice the game. Forward Jonas Aidoo scored a season-high 22 points in the win against Kansas. He and Davis must continue playing well for the team to pull off an upset.
Final Thoughts
Calipari and Pitino have these programs back on a winning trajectory. St. John’s has been the better team this year, and Pitino is the superior coach. The Red Storm are a slight favorite and should defeat the Razorbacks in a close game to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.
