Luis Jr.’s 22-point outing leads the Johnnies to their first Big Dance victory in a quarter-century and sets up a matchup with 10-seed Arkansas on Saturday
The March Madness monkey is off the Red Storm’s back.
St. John’s has won an NCAA Tournament game for the first time since Y2K was in America’s collective consciousness, zipping past 15-seed Omaha in an 83-53 First Round rout on Thursday night.
Most of the Red Storm’s players have never played in the Big Dance, and that inexperience showed early in the first half. Omaha took leads 7-0 and 20-14 before the under-8 media timeout, but St. John’s didn’t allow the Mavericks to have anything more than an inkling of an upset from that point, using a 19-8 run to enter the half with a 33-28 lead and hold their advantage for good.
Across the two halves, St. John’s burst to a 30-8 run to take a commanding 60-36 lead and put the game well out of reach.
THE RED STORM ARE FLYING ✈️#MarchMadness @StJohnsBBall pic.twitter.com/dBkknuxH6z
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 21, 2025
Not only did St. John’s suffocate Omaha by holding them to 25.7% shooting from the floor and forcing the normally sleek-shooting Mavericks to hit five of their 36 attempts from beyond the arc (13.9%), but they treated their large traveling contingent of Red Storm fans to a surprise three-point shooting contest. The Johnnies drained 14 of their last 33 three-point attempts (42.4%) after their scheduled slow start.
Leading the three-point barrage was none other than Big East Player of the Year and All-American RJ Luis Jr., who posted a team-high 22 points (8-of-14 from the field) and sank five three-pointers, the most ever by a St. John’s player in the NCAA Tournament. What was once a glaring weakness for the star wing from Miami has suddenly turned into a potent weapon, as Luis is now hitting over half of his three-point attempts over his last eight games (21-of-40).
RJ. LUIS. JR.
With his 5 made triples, he sets a new program NCAA Tournament record for three’s made in a single game pic.twitter.com/nJ0xZa9yw9
— St. John’s Men’s Basketball (@StJohnsBBall) March 21, 2025
Next for St. John’s is a meeting with 10-seed Arkansas in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday after they defeated Kansas 79-72. The Red Storm’s Round of 32 matchup versus the Razorbacks won’t be a typical tournament meeting. Two of the most iconic college basketball head coaches, Rick Pitino and John Calipari, will share a sideline and add another installment to their anthology of world-famous beef.