St. John's, Arkansas Wins Set Up New York NCAA Showdown
By: Steven Schwankert
Schools and players with local connections face off Saturday afternoon
Television sets around the New York area will be focused on men’s college basketball on Saturday afternoon, as a hot local Catholic university faces off against a homegrown star.
The St. John’s University Red Storm of Queens, the number two seed in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, glided past Omaha Thursday evening, 83-53. They will now face the no. 10 Arkansas Razorbacks, whose star freshman Johnuel “Boogie” Fland, a Bronx native and Archbishop Stepinac High School alumnus, helped engineer a second-half turnaround that led his team to victory over no. 7 Kansas, 79-72.
With three minutes left to play in the second half, a Fland steal and score changed the momentum against Kansas, which had been leading 67-64. Fland led NCAA freshmen this season in assists with 6.2 per game, despite missing time due to a thumb injury.
The game, to be played at Providence, Rhode Island’s Amica Mutual Pavilion, not only pits two teams with local connections against each other, it matches up two legendary college coaches: Rick Pitino, in his first season at St. John’s, and John Calipari, who is in his first season with Arkansas. Both coaches led Kentucky to national championships, in 1996 and 2012, respectively. Pitino won another national championship with Louisville in 2013, a title since vacated due to a scandal involving players and recruits. The coaches are 2-2 in head-to-head competition.
St. John’s, a 1980s Big East Conference powerhouse, is enjoying a basketball renaissance under Pitino’s leadership. Since making it to the 1985 Final Four, the school has not appeared in the Sweet 16 since 1999. With a win over St. John’s, Arkansas would go to its fourth Sweet 16 in five years, although the Queens team is favored and should have a significant fan base traveling to Rhode Island for the game.
Fland initially committed to Kentucky in October 2023. However, when Calipari left Kentucky for the coaching job at Arkansas after an early-round loss in the 2024 men’s basketball tournament, Fland, who cited Calipari’s recruiting efforts as his reason for choosing Kentucky, decided to follow him.
St. John’s versus Arkansas airs Saturday, March 22, at 2:40 p.m. on CBS.