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2025 NCAA Tournament Second Round game thread: (2) St. John’s vs. (10) Arkansas men’s basketball

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PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND - MARCH 20: Kadary Richmond #1 of St. John’s Red Storm dribbles the ball during the first half in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament against the Omaha Mavericks at Amica Mutual Pavillion on March 20, 2025 in Providence, Rhode Island.
Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

Rick Pitino and the Johnnies seek to knock off Calipari and the Razorbacks in the Mike Anderson Bowl and advance to their first Sweet Sixteen since 1999

Pitino versus Calipari. These three words speak for themselves.

Knocking off 15-seed Omaha in an 83-53 blowout on Thursday night, 2-seed St. John’s turns to Saturday afternoon, where they look to advance to their first Sweet Sixteen since 1999 when they face 10-seed Arkansas with a Hall of Fame head coach on each bench. The Razorbacks bounced 7-seed Kansas by a score of 79-72 in their First Round game on Thursday behind Jonas Aidoo’s team-high 22 points.

Here is the thread for Saturday’s St. John’s men’s basketball game versus Arkansas in the Second Round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. The winner will advance to face 11-seed Drake or 3-seed Texas Tech in the West Region Semifinal in San Francisco, California.

You can follow updates of Saturday’s game on Rumble in the Garden’s official X account (formerly Twitter) at @rumbleSBN or on Rumble in the Garden’s new Bluesky account at rumbleinthegarden.bsky.social. Make sure to check out our game recap and analysis after the game.

Game information

Who: 2-seed St. John’s Red Storm (31-4) vs. 10-seed Arkansas Razorbacks (21-13)

When: Saturday, March 22, 2025, approx. 2:40 p.m.

Where: Amica Mutual Pavilion, Providence, Rhode Island (West Region)

TV and Streaming: CBS / NCAA.com

Radio: Learfield

Tickets: Ticketmaster

Series History: Series tied 1-1. Both previous meetings occurred in the NCAA Tournament. In 1985, (1) St. John’s won their first-ever meeting versus (9) Arkansas in the Second Round by a score of 68-65. Eight years later, (4) Arkansas returned the favor and defeated (5) St. John’s in the Second Round by a score of 80-74 in the 1993 NCAA Tournament.

Seed History: St. John’s only played as a 2-seed in the NCAA Tournament once in program history. In 2000, the second-seeded Red Storm lost to 10-seed Gonzaga in the Second Round by a score of 82-76.

KenPom Predicted Score: St. John’s to win, 73-67 (72% chance to win)

Know your foe

Calipari’s first season shepherding the Hogs hasn’t always been pretty. Arkansas entered conference season with an 11-2 record, which included a marquee win over then-No. 14 Michigan at Madison Square Garden, but quickly dove off the bubble with five straight losses to open SEC play. Matters were made worse when second-leading scorer and Bronx native Boogie Fland was forced to miss the remainder of the regular season with torn ligaments in his right thumb.

Yet, without their five-star freshman point guard, the Razorbacks rebounded in the face of adversity, winning eight of their final 13 conference games and defeating three ranked teams, including then-No. 12 Kentucky in Calipari’s Rupp Arena return on February 1. The hits didn’t stop coming when leading scorer Adou Thiero missed the final four games of the regular season with a hyperextended knee, and Arkansas still managed to win three of those games.

The good news for the Hogs is the cavalry has arrived when they need them most. Fland is back for the NCAA Tournament, coming off the bench to post six points and three assists against Kansas in his first game in two months, and Thiero could play on Saturday after being out of action for the last month.

Assuming Arkansas is playing at full strength tomorrow, Fland and Thiero will be atop the scouting report for the Red Storm.

Like most freshmen, Boogie Fland isn’t very consistent in shooting the rock, but he serves his point guard duties effectively as a newbie. He sits a spot outside of the top 50 qualified players in assist rate with 31.4%, according to KenPom, and doesn’t compound that with too many giveaways with a 10.5% turnover percentage. Through 19 games played this year, the Archbishop Stepinac graduate is averaging 14.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, 5.6 assists, and 1.6 steals while shooting 38.8% from the floor, 35.0% from three, and 84.4% from the free throw line.

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Thiero is one of the most explosive slashers in the country. Following Calipari to the Ozarks after spending his first two seasons of college ball at Kentucky, Thiero is averaging 15.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.7 steals while hitting 54.8% from the field. Shooting away from the paint is a bit of an issue for the Leetsdale, Pennsylvania, native, as he only shoots 26.2% from three and 68.8% from the stripe.

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UPDATE (as of March 22, 2025, 9:32 am): First reported by Jon Rothstein, Adou Thiero is ruled out for Saturday’s NCAA Tournament game, according to John Calipari.

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