March Madness: 3 keys for St. John's vs. No. 15 Omaha
St. John's Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino speaks during a press conference during practice on Wednesday ahead of the NCAA Tournament at Amica Mutual Pavillion in Providence, R.I. Credit: Getty Images/Emilee Chinn
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – St. John’s will play its first NCAA Tournament game since 2019, and will be seeking its first NCAA Tournament victory since 2000, 9:45 p.m. Thursday when it faces 15th-seeded Omaha in a West Region first-round game at Amica Mutual Pavilion.
Here are three keys for the second-seeded Red Storm (30-4) as they look to beat the Summit League champion Mavericks (22-12).
1. Don’t look past Omaha
St. John’s may be a prohibitive favorite , but it’s not like a No. 15 seed never beats a No. 2. In fact, it’s happened 11 times, and three times in the past four years.
Storm coach Rick Pitino has taken teams to 13 Sweet 16s and was asked about the key to winning twice in one tourney weekend. He replied, “The first thing you do is, don't think about the second game.”
The Storm-Omaha winner will meet the winner of Bill Self-coached No. 7 Kansas and John Calipari-coached No. 10 Arkansas.
“You have no idea who is going to win Kansas-Arkansas,” Pitino said. “Two great coaches, great talent. You just focus on what you can control and that's Omaha. Our respect for Omaha is off the charts. They can really, really play.”
2. Shut down the Mavericks’ three-point shooting
Omaha shoots nearly 37% on the three-point arc and scores one third of its points that way. St. John’s is capable of shutting down a long-range attack with players who can defend every position. One of Pitino’s favorite attacks on good shooting teams is using a full-court press to wear their legs out so they miss shots late in the game.
“No doubt, we have to make shots,” Mavs coach Chris Crutchfield said. “That's been our team identity all year, to spread the floor and make shots.”
3. Keep doing the things that got them here
The Storm are the top team in the country in defensive efficiency, according to kenpom.com and hold opponents to 65.9 points per game. They are the fourth best offensive rebounding team in the nation, averaging 14.5 . They rank tenth in the nation in turnovers forced at 15.6 . If they stay a team that does that, they should be able to win Thursday.
Asked about the things it must do to beat St. John’s, Crutchfield replied, “One is take care of the basketball. Two is...be able to handle their physicality. And the third thing is, definitely we have to be able to rebound the basketball [because] they're a great offensive rebounding team.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
