St. John’s gets first NCAA Tournament win since 2000, routs Omaha

RJ Luis puts finishing touches on St. John’s first NCAA Tournament win since 2000 with second-half dunk as Red Storm defeated Omaha. (Photo by St. John’s Athletics)

By Jason Dimaio (@Jaydimaio)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — In a season where achieving milestones has been common for St. John’s, perhaps it was fitting that Thursday—the start of a new season, so to speak—became the latest to add to a rapidly-growing mantle.

The Red Storm won its first NCAA Tournament game since 2000 Thursday, waxing 15th-seed Omaha by a final score of 83-53 in the first-round West regional matchup between the two schools.

The game script was all too familiar in the early stages, though, with the Johnnies (31-4) finding themselves in an early hole they would have to figure their way out of. Omaha jumped out to a 7-0 lead, packing the paint and daring St. John’s to shoot from deep. The Red Storm took the bait in the opening minutes, missing its first five shots on the night but firing 18 of their 26 first-half attempts from distance.

“We came out very tight,” junior forward RJ Luis admitted of the sluggish start. “A little bit of nerves, but we cleaned it up in the second half and got back to our identity, which is defense.”

After a quick timeout by Rick Pitino just over three minutes into the contest, the nerves Luis spoke of among he and his teammates settled. In doing so, the Johnnies answered with a 7-0 run of their own to match the Summit League champion Mavericks. Although shots started falling for St. John’s as the half went on, a key part of this team's identity was lacking, and that was rebounding. Omaha crushed the Red Storm on the glass in the opening stanza to a jaw-dropping 26-16 advantage.

“It’s just a matter of getting in the flow of the game,” Zuby Ejiofor assessed. “We’ve been starting out pretty slow. Once we all talked to each other and got more engaged, we just came together and did whatever it takes to win, and we just locked in.”

The locking in came after Omaha had forged a 20-14 lead, as St. John’s used its defense to launch a 14-2 run, getting stops before connecting on back-to-back threes from Deivon Smith and Ruben Prey, the latter of which broke a 22-all tie and put the Red Storm ahead for good. Vince Iwuchukwu gave the Johnnies a last-second jolt going into the break, sending the No. 2 seed into halftime up 33-28. From this point on, the floodgates opened.

Out of the gate to start the second half, it was the same story most have seen all year. St. John’s scored 10 of the first 12 points out of the intermission, punctuated by back-to-back threes from Aaron Scott and Luis. From there, rebounds were starting to be cleaned up, and shortly thereafter, the 10-2 run eventually reached a 30-8 spurt to put the game away.

Luis continued his All-American season, scoring 22 points and hitting a career-high five shots from beyond the arc. St. John’s as a whole buried 14 threes on the night, setting a new school record for most treys in a single NCAA Tournament game.

On tap next for St. John’s is a Saturday matchup with 10th-seeded Arkansas, with tipoff slated for 2:40 p.m. While most of the attention will be fixated on the coaching rivalry between Pitino and Arkansas’ John Calipari, the Red Storm’s leader is more concerned with what his team will face against the Razorbacks than the first battle with his former rival in over eight years.

“We know what we’re up against,” Pitino remarked. “We’re going to have to play the best game of the season to beat a team like this. We know that. They’re very, very big, athletic, their bench is athletic. This is a whole different ballgame for us, but they know we’re a good team as well.”