Kansas vs St. John’s: Get to Know the Jayhawks’ Second Round Opponent

The No. 4 seed Kansas Jayhawks are preparing to tip off against No. 5 seed St. John’s on Sunday in the second round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament. The two teams will take the stage on CBS starting at approximately 4:15 p.m. CT.

The Jayhawks advanced past the first round on Saturday night after a late scare from the No. 13 seed Cal Baptist Lancers by a score of 68-60. Meanwhile, St. John’s advanced to the Round of 32 after handily beating No. 12 Northern Iowa 79-53.

Here is some more information about the St. John’s Red Storm heading into Sunday’s matchup.

History

Sunday’s meeting will be the 15th between these two schools dating back to their first matchup in 1950 when KU, led by Hall of Fame head coach Phog Allen, defeated St. John’s 52-51 in New York City. The Red Storm were led by a future Hall of Fame head coach in Frank McGuire.

Allen and McGuire would square off again less than two years later when KU and St. John’s met in the NCAA Championship game. The Jayhawks bested the Red Storm 80-63 to give the school its first NCAA title.

Kansas owns a 9-5 all-time record versus St. John’s, and the Jayhawks have won the last three straight by a score of 95-75 in 2021, 82-74 in 2000, and 66-57 in 1987.

Every KU coach since Phog Allen has faced St. John’s at least twice in their Kansas career. Sunday will be the second for Kansas head coach Bill Self.

Record

St. John’s enters Sunday’s game with a record of 29-6 on the season going 21-2 in conference play and 8-4 in non-conference. They’ve won seven straight and 20 of their last 21 games.

The Red Storm were the regular season and tournament champions of a fairly weak Big East Conference this year. Only three teams from the conference made the NCAA Tournament – No. 5 St. John’s, No. 2 UConn, and No. 8 Villanova.

St. John’s owns two wins over the UConn Huskies this year but failed to beat any other ranked opponent they faced.

Key Players

The Red Storm are led by Big East Player of the Year and Big East Defensive Player of the Year Zuby Ejiofor. The 6-foot-9 senior averages 16.3 points and 7.3 rebounds this season while shooting 55% from the field.

Ejiofor is one of the best players in the country and a semifinalist for both Naismith Player of the Year and Naismith Defensive Player of the Year honors. He started his college career at Kansas during the 2022-23 season but transferred to St. John’s following the season to seek more playing time.

The second leading scorer for St. John’s is 6-foot-7 senior Bryce Hopkins who averages 13.5 points per game. The Providence transfer also chips in an average of 6.2 rebounds per game.

The frontcourt is joined by All-Big East defender Dillon Mitchell. The 6-foot-8 senior forward averages 8.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.

Coaching

St. John’s is led by Hall of Fame head coach Rick Pitino. He took over the St. John’s program in March 2023 and has rapidly led them back to national relevance.

In just three seasons, he has led the Red Storm to two Big East Tournament titles (2025, 2026) and their first outright Big East regular season title since 1985.

He was named the 2025 Associated Press Coach of the Year after leading St. John’s to a 31-5 record and a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. By making the tournament that year, Pitino became the first coach in college basketball history to lead six different programs to the Big Dance.

He has a record of 80-24 (.769) at St. John’s and is 0-1 all-time versus Self.