Fifth-Seeded St. John’s to Open NCAA Tournament on Friday against 12th-Seeded Northern Iowa

Bryce Hopkins also finished with 13 points, a team-high seven rebounds and four assists.

Fifth-Seeded St. John’s to Open NCAA Tournament on Friday against 12th-Seeded Northern Iowa

3/19/2026 7:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Back-to-back BIG EAST Champions will tip-off at 7:10 p.m. ET in San Diego

SAN DIEGO - The fifth-seeded St. John's men's basketball team (28-6) will begin the 2026 NCAA Tournament on Friday when it takes on 12^th-seeded Northern Iowa (23-12) in the East Region First Round.

The Red Storm and Panthers will tip-off at 7:10 p.m. ET from Viejas Arena in San Diego. CBS will carry the national telecast with Kevin Harlan, Robbie Hummel, Stan Van Gundy on the call. Lauren Shehadi will serve as the sideline report. A video stream will additionally be available on March Madness Live.

The LEARFIELD St. John's Radio Network broadcast will be available with John Minko and Brandon Tierney on 1050 AM ESPN New York, the Varsity Network, TuneIn, and the St. John's Red Storm App.

For a list of watch parties around New York City and all over the country visit the St. John's Alumni page here.

St. John's will make its 31^st appearance in the NCAA Tournament and qualified in consecutive years for the first time since 1999-2000. Last year, St. John's won its first game in the Big Dance in 25 years with its largest margin of victory in an NCAA Tournament game in program history. The Red Storm holds a 28-32 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament and will be a five-seed for the third time (1982, 1993). The Johnnies have advanced to nine Sweet 16's, six Elite Eight's, two Final Fours (1952, 1985) and finished NCAA Finalists in 1952.

St. John's enters the Big Dance as one of five teams in NCAA Division I to win 19 of its last 20 games. The Johnnies re-entered the top-10 in the national rankings this week for the first time since the preseason. The Red Storm has spent 15 weeks in the Associated Press Top 25 during the 2025-26 campaign, the highest total since the 1999-2000 campaign (16).

The Red Storm rolls into San Diego fresh off making history in the Big Apple. St. John's became the first program in the decorated basketball history of the BIG EAST Conference to win back-to-back outright regular season and tournament crowns. The Johnnies captured three wins in as many days, all by double-digits to lift the trophy once again on the storied Madison Square Garden hardwood. The Red Storm topped eighth-seeded Providence (85-72), fourth-seeded Seton Hall (78-68) and second-seeded then-No. 6/6 UConn (72-52) to claim the program's fifth BIG EAST Tournament Championship and first-ever in consecutive seasons.

As a five seed, St. John's is 2-2 all-time and will make its first appearance at that seed line in 33 years. In 1993, the Johnnies defeated 12^th-seeded Texas Tech, 85-67, behind a triple-double from David Cain, one of 10 in NCAA Tournament history before falling to fourth-seeded Arkansas, 80-74, in Winston-Salem, N.C. In its previous appearance as a no. 5 seed, the Redmen outlasted Penn, 66-56, on March 12, 1982. St. John's fell two days later to fourth-seeded Alabama in dramatic fashion, 69-68, in nearby Uniondale, N.Y. The Red Storm is 3-0 all-time against the 12^th-seed, dating back to when seeding began in 1979.

Head Coach Rick Pitino will enter his 25^th NCAA Tournament with six different schools (Boston University, Providence, Kentucky, Louisville, Iona and St. John's). The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer holds a 55-22 (.714) record in the Big Dance, which ranks the fourth highest win total among active coaches, narrowly trailing Michigan State's Tom Izzo (59), Arkansas' John Calipari (59) and Kansas' Bill Self (57). The New York native has advanced to seven Final Fours with three different schools and won two National Championships at Kentucky (1996) and Louisville (2013).

The Johnnies are led by phenom Zuby Ejiofor, who continues to rack up accolades during his final campaign in the Red & White. The big man was named an Associated Press and U.S. Basketball Writers Association All-American Honorable Mention this week. Last week, he became the first player in BIG EAST history to win player of the year, defensive player of the year, scholar-athlete of the year and the Dave Gavitt Trophy as the BIG EAST Tournament Most Outstanding Player all in the same season. Ejiofor paces the Johnnies in- scoring (16.3 ppg), rebounding (7.1 rpg), assists (3.5 apg), blocks (2.2 bpg), field goal percentage (55.4%), free throws made (172), free throw attempts (241) and minutes average (29.7 MPG).

Alongside Ejiofor, frontcourt mates Dillon Mitchell and Bryce Hopkins comprised the Red Storm three-headed monster in the post. Hopkins, an All-BIG EAST Second Team and All-Tournament selection, averaged 15.0 points and 8.3 rebounds during the BIG EAST Tournament. Mitchell is an All-BIG EAST Third and All-Defensive Team selection. The point forward currently ranks 14^th in the country with a 3.34-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Northern Iowa enters the NCAA Tournament on a five-game winning streak as the automatic qualifier out of the Missouri Valley Conference. The Panthers won four games in four days as the sixth-seed culminating with a championship game victory over UIC in St. Louis.

UNI will make its ninth all-time NCAA Tournament appearance on Friday and fifth under Head Coach Ben Jacobson. The Panthers have won a game in each of their last three trips to the Big Dance, including a Sweet 16 appearance in 2010.

The Panthers boast the nation's top scoring defense allowing just 61.3 points per game and third in NCAA Division I in 3-point percentage defense, limiting opponents to just 28.6 percent shooting from beyond-the-arc. They are led by MVC Tournament Most Outstanding Player Trey Campbell, who is averaging a team-high 13.7 points per game.

Friday's contest will mark the first time St. John's and Northern Iowa will meet in the history of the two programs. Pitino has seen the Panthers twice while at Louisville. He led the Cardinals past the Panthers in the 2015 NCAA Tournament Round of 32, 66-53, and in the opening game of the 2012 Battle 4 Atlantis, 51-46.

The winner of Friday's contest will meet the winner of fourth-seeded Kansas and 13^th-seeded Cal Baptist on Sunday in the NCAA Tournament Second Round at Viejas Arena.