Arkansas Upsets St. John’s: Advance to Sweet 16

Two of the all-time great head coaches, John Calipari for Arkansas and Rick Pitino for St. John’s, highlighted this game. We knew this matchup would be a chess match between these coaches, and in the end, John Calipari and his Razorbacks pulled off the upset and will advance to the Sweet 16 in Calipari’s first season as head coach for Arkansas.

This second-round matchup was played tight from start to finish. Arkansas took the lead with 43 seconds left in the first half and never relinquished it. Arkansas’ defense is what helped them win this game. The Razorbacks forced St. John’s to shoot 28% from the field, one of their lowest shooting performances of the season. St. John’s shot 2 of 22 from three-point range. They shot 30.4% from three this season, which is already below average. 

Unfortunately, St. John’s had to play the final 6:28 of the game without Kadary Richmond because of fouling out. He is one of the better defenders on the team, and having to finish the game without him was hurtful. St. John’s leading scorer for the season, RJ Luis Jr., did not play his best when it mattered most. He came into this game averaging 18.2 points per game. He scored 9 points off 3 of 17 from the field. The only bright spot for St. John’s was that Zuby Ejiofor led the way with 23 points and 12 rebounds while shooting 7 of 12 of the field.

Billy Richmond led the way off the bench with 16 points and 9 rebounds. Karter Knox added 15 points and 6 rebounds to help pull off the win. Although Arkansas won the game, they did not shoot well. As a team, they shot 2 of 19 from three, and 19 of 27 from the free-throw line. In March Madness, free throws are critical in the final stretch of games. If they put up a shooting performance like this against Texas Tech, then they potentially could be the next team heading home.