The St. John’s Red Storm and Arkansas Razorbacks face off in the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. This St. John’s vs Arkansas game provides fans with an all-time coaching matchup between two legends in Rick Pitino and John Calipari with a Sweet 16 berth on the line.
Below, we will preview this March Madness college basketball game, giving the St. John’s vs Arkansas overview, trends and our expert pick! Which school will win and keep their hopes of winning the championship trophy alive?
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St. John’s vs Arkansas Prediction and March Madness Expert Picks
2025 NCAA Tournament
No. 2 St. John’s Red Storm (31-4) vs. No. 10 Arkansas Razorbacks (21-13)
Date: Saturday, March 22, 2025
Time: 2:40 PM EST
Venue: Amica Mutual Pavilion — Providence, RI
Coverage: CBS
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St. John’s vs Arkansas March Madness Odds
All college basketball betting odds for St. John’s vs Arkansas can be found at BetUS Sportsbook.
Moneyline: SJU: (-302) | ARK: (+242)
Point Spread: SJU: -7.5 (-108) | ARK: +7.5 (-112)
Total: 144.5 — Over: (-115) | Under: (-105)
KenPom Rankings | Bracketology
KenPom Rankings are from KenPom.com
| Team | Rk | AdjO | AdjD | AdjT |
| St. John’s | 12 | 114.4 (64) | 87.2 (1) | 70.0 (52) |
| Arkansas | 39 | 113.4 (72) | 95.3 (19) | 69.5 (66) |
St. John’s vs Arkansas College Basketball Trends
- St. John’s is 5-0 in its last five games.
- Arkansas is 4-1 in its last five games.
- St. John’s is 13-2 in non-conference play this season.
- Arkansas is 13-3 in non-conference play this season.
- St. John’s hasn’t won an NCAA Tournament game since 2000.
- John Calipari led teams are 15-5 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
St. John’s vs Arkansas Prediction | March Madness Expert Picks
It may have taken the St. John’s Red Storm a half of basketball to wake up, but when they did, they went nuclear. While their opponent was Omaha, outscoring any tournament team by 25 in a half is impressive. The Red Storm relied on their trademark stingy defense to dictate the course of the game causing Omaha to shoot just 25% from the field and under 14% from three-point range.
The one issue for St. John’s was how slow their offense started. Although they did score 33 points in the first half, going scoreless for the first four minutes of the game cannot happen against Arkansas. The Razorbacks’ offense is much too good and any lapse in scoring will immediately swing the game in favor of Arkansas.
Much like St. John’s, Arkansas didn’t look flawless in their first round win over Kansas either. After getting out to a 55-44 lead in the second half, they allowed Kansas to go on a 23-9 run to take a late 67-64 lead. The Razorbacks did lock Kansas down for the rest of the game, forcing multiple key turnovers late, but they cannot allow a team like the Red Storm to go on a run.
This game will be a nail-biter and fans will certainly be treated to a great game. In these games, consistency, defense, and free throw shooting often provide the difference. With St. John’s proving to be better than Arkansas on two of those three fronts, pick the Red Storm to escape with a win.
For our St. John’s vs Arkansas prediction, we are picking the St. John’s Red Storm to win and move on in the NCAA Tournament.
