Nebraska Omaha vs St. John’s Prediction 3/20/25 College Basketball Picks

The Omaha Mavericks and the St. John’s Red Storm meet Thursday in NCAA Tournament First Round college basketball action from Dunkin’ Donuts Center. Here’s an Omaha vs St. John’s prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Omaha vs St. John’s pick. We will examine: 

The Omaha Mavericks’ recent form and player performance

The St. John’s Red Storm’s recent form and player performance 

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Omaha Mavericks

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the St. John’s Red Storm

Recent betting trends in games played between Omaha and St. John’s

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Omaha vs St. John’s game

Omaha Mavericks Betting Preview

The Mavericks started out on a rough run this year, losing nine of their first 13 games. Omaha picked it up from there, however, notching a nice win streak that lasted from December 21 versus Cal Poly to January 25 against Oral Roberts. A 3-3 run came next with losses to South Dakota, South Dakota State, and St. Thomas-MN among wins versus Denver, North Dakota, and North Dakota State. Since then it’s been another string of victories over Kansas City, South Dakota, Oral Roberts, Kansas City, South Dakota and St. Thomas-MN, leading to a 22-12 record and a Summit League championship for the Mavericks. 

In their Summit League Tournament Final versus the Tommies way back on March 9, Omaha jumped out to a 39-33 halftime edge. The Mavericks hit a 46-42 run the rest of the way, leading to an 85-75 victory in the end. JJ White was the top scorer with his 29 points and five assists, while Marquel Sutton doubled up on 22 points with 18 rebounds in 36 minutes of work. 

St. John’s Red Storm Betting Preview

Over on the St. John’s side, they’ve maintained form for the whole year and haven’t lost consecutive games. The Storm went 11-3 over their first 14 games, then took out Butler, Xavier, Villanova, Georgetown, Seton Hall, Xavier, Georgetown, Providence, Marquette, and UConn before a loss to Villanova. St. John’s has posted victories versus Creighton, DePaul, UConn, Butler, Seton Hall, Marquette, Butler, Marquette, and Creighton since then, bagging a Big East Tournament championship and a 30-4 overall record this year. 

Matched up against Creighton in the championship game of the conference tourney, St. John’s was down 28-25 going into the break. The Red Storm surged on a 57-38 run the rest of the way, however, notching an 82-66 win in the end. Leading the team with a double-double was RJ Luis with 29 points and 10 boards. Kadary Richmond doubled up as well with 12 points and 12 rebounds in 34 minutes. 

Omaha vs St. John’s Prediction 

I’ll lean toward St. John’s, but realistically the line’s too thick to mess with. The Red Storm are on a roll these days and coming off a great effort in the Big East championship versus Creighton. St. John’s shot 52.3 percent from the field in that one with a 39-34 rebounding edge and just nine turnovers. The 50 percent (7-of-14) from 3-point range and the 21 points off 15 Bluejays turnovers certainly helped as well. That gives the Storm 71 or more points in all nine games during this current win streak. 

As for Omaha, they played pretty well themselves in the Summit League Championship Game versus a tricky St. Thomas-MN team. The Mavs hit 49.1 percent from the field in that one, with a 41-31 rebounding advantage. The 12 turnovers were just about the only blemish during the win. Omaha is scoring great lately themselves—and pretty much all year, in fact. During this six-game win streak, the Mavericks have 78 or more points in each outing. That said, I’m not sure they’ll be able to keep pace with a surging St. John’s team if the Storm get going.

Andrew Jett's Pick: St. John's Red Storm -18.5