March Madness: No. 2 St. John's puts away No. 15 Omaha to advance to NCAA Tournament second round
St. John's guard RJ Luis Jr. dunks against Omaha during the first half in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday in Providence, R.I. Credit: AP/Charles Krupa
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — It had felt like eons since the St. John’s men’s basketball program was on this stage.
The Red Storm were playing in their first NCAA Tournament since 2019, their first Round of 64 game since 2015 and their first game as a top-two seed since 2000. They had not won a game in The Big Dance since 2000.
Rick Pitino had delivered landmark moments with Big East Tournament and regular-season titles in his second season as St. John’s coach. Late Thursday night, two years after the news broke that Pitino would be taking over in Queens, his Red Storm emphatically provided another: a first NCAA Tournament win in 25 years.
No. 2 St. John’s did what top seeds are supposed to do, putting away pesky No. 15 seed Omaha, 83-53, in the West Region first-round game at Amica Mutual Pavilion.
“You don’t really get a chance to think about the history and what we’ve done because we’re still on the chase,” Kadary Richmond said.
Big East Player of the Year RJ Luis Jr. scored 22 points and hit a career-high five three-pointers. Simeon Wilcher added 13 points, including three treys. Richmond had 10 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Zuby Ejiofor had 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
St. John’s (31-4) hit a season high-tying 14 three-pointers, the most since it drilled 14 in a double-overtime loss to Baylor on Nov. 21.
“I didn’t know we hit 14 threes,” Luis said. “We’re not bad shooters. It’s just about just moving the ball and getting open looks and good shots, and really just shooting the ball with confidence.”
Omaha (22-13) shot a season-worst 25.7% from the field and 13.9% from three-point range (5-for-36). It had 24 offensive rebounds, the most St. John’s has allowed this season.
“I’m not thrilled with the rebounding. I’m thrilled with everything else,” Pitino said. “I think that we got them to take a lot of bad shots. Our defense was excellent. We changed our defense in the second half, which helped us a lot, but just wasn’t happy giving up 24 second shots. But very happy with the win. Very happy we’re advancing.”
JJ White’s 15 points led Summit League Tournament champion Omaha, making its first NCAA Tournament appearance in its Division I history.
St. John’s won an NCAA Tournament game for the first time since March 16, 2000, when the No. 2 Red Storm beat No. 15 Northern Arizona, 61-56, in the first round. It also matched the single-season program record of 31 wins it set in 1984-85 and tied in 1985-86.
St. John’s will meet No. 10 Arkansas (21-13), which defeated No. 7 Kansas, 79-72, at 2:40 p.m. Saturday in Providence. The second-round game is between Naismith Hall of Famers and longtime coaching foes in Pitino and Arkansas coach John Calipari, both of whom won national championships at Kentucky.
“I don’t go against coaches, we go against teams,” Pitino said. “He doesn’t have to worry about me. My jump shot’s long gone . . . We’re preparing for his players. He’s preparing for our players. John and I don’t play one-on-one anymore.”
St. John’s is one win away from its first Sweet 16 appearance since 1999. It has won 10 straight, 20 of 21 and 26 of 28.
St. John’s opened the second half on a 12-2 run, extending its lead to 45-30 with 17:01 left. Richmond’s layup gave the Red Storm their first double-digit lead at 38-28 with 18:51 left, and they never let Omaha get within 10 points in the final 18:06.
“Everybody just really came together a lot better,” Ejiofor said. “The stakes were higher — it’s a win-or-go-home game. Nobody wants to lose, especially when we just got here, so everybody just dug in deeper.”
The Red Storm grabbed their first 20-point lead on Luis’ three that made it 56-36 with 13:14 left. They extended their lead to 30 at 81-51 with 2:22 left.
Omaha scored the first seven points of the game, and the Red Storm did not take their first lead until Deivon Smith hit a three to make it 22-20 with 6:22 left in the first half. They never trailed again.
“It’s the road to a national championship,” Ejiofor said. “We got one down. We got five to go . . . I’m pretty much happy for what we accomplished today, but we still got more work to be done.”
Ben Dickson joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.