Kansas Looks to Snap March Drought in Toss-Up Showdown with Surging St. John’s

San Diego, CA – One day after Kansas guard Melvin Council Jr. and center Paul Mbiya helped spark a first-round escape against California Baptist, the Jayhawks find themselves staring at a far steeper challenge: a Sunday meeting with St. John’s for a berth in the Sweet 16. The contest, pitting Hall of Fame-bound Bill Self against Rick Pitino, shapes up as the most hotly debated matchup of the tournament’s opening weekend.

Tip-off is barely 24 hours away, yet the line has already raised eyebrows. Despite carrying the superior seed, Kansas opened as the betting underdog. The Red Storm have won 20 of their last 21 games, swept reigning national champion UConn twice, and enter Viejas Arena with a top-10 defense that has smothered opponents throughout the stretch.

ESPN’s Matchup Predictor quantifies the skepticism surrounding the Jayhawks, assigning St. John’s a 57.1 percent probability of advancing compared to Kansas’ 42.9 percent. FanDuel’s moneyline mirrors the analytics: St. John’s sits at –154, Kansas at +128. The narrow margin underscores how evenly the teams are viewed by both algorithms and oddsmakers.

Motivation will not be in short supply. St. John’s leading scorer, Zuby Ejiofor, spent his freshman season in Lawrence and will face his former program on college basketball’s brightest stage. Ejiofor’s inside-out versatility has anchored the Red Storm’s late-season offensive surge, complementing a defense that has held seven consecutive opponents below 40 percent from the field.

Kansas, meanwhile, is still searching for the consistency that has eluded it since a 2022 second-weekend exit. Saturday’s 26-point cushion over Cal Baptist evaporated to six in the final minutes, exposing the same second-half lulls that have dogged the Jayhawks all winter. Self conceded afterward that his rotation “hit a wall,” a phrase that has become maddeningly familiar to a fan base hungry for a return to the second weekend.

The antidote may rest with freshman guard Darryn Peterson. The 19-year-old went for 28 points in his NCAA debut, burying a flurry of contested jumpers that kept the Lancers at bay. If Kansas is to topple St. John’s stingy perimeter defense, Peterson’s shot-making will need to be matched by efficient nights from Council Jr., Mbiya, and a supporting cast that shot a combined 4-of-17 from deep on Friday.

History says the Jayhawks have the talent; recent history questions whether they can sustain it. Pitino’s group, winners of 13 straight away from Madison Square Garden, will pressure every passing lane and crash every glass, betting that Kansas’ intermittent focus resurfaces at the worst possible time.

Tip-off is slated for shortly after 2 p.m. local time. A berth in the Sweet 16—and validation that the program’s March demons have finally been exorcised—awaits the victor.