On March 22, 2026 in San Diego, St. John’s University men’s basketball delivered the kind of March moment that rewrites program history. The Red Storm, a No. 5 seed and Big East tournament champion, stunned No. 4 seed Kansas 67–65 on a last-second driving layup by point guard Dylan Darling in the second round of the NCAA Division I men’s tournament at Viejas Arena.
The win sent St. John’s to its first Sweet 16 since 1999, ending a 27-year drought for one of New York City’s most tradition-rich basketball programs and underscoring how far Rick Pitino has pushed the Red Storm back into the national spotlight in his third season in Queens.
The St. John’s vs Kansas 2026 matchup carried intrigue even before the ball tipped. St. John’s arrived in San Diego at 28–6, fresh off winning both the Big East regular-season and conference tournament titles. Kansas, a perennial Big 12 power, entered 23–10 as an at-large bid and a dangerous, battle-tested No. 4 seed.
Beyond the seeds, the game featured a rare NCAA Tournament meeting between two Hall of Fame coaches: St. John’s 73-year-old Rick Pitino and Kansas’s 63-year-old Bill Self. According to the Associated Press, it was only the second time they had faced each other as opposing coaches and the first in March Madness, adding a heavyweight sideline storyline to an already compelling second-round game.
Player storylines added even more layers:
But by the time the final horn sounded, it was an unheralded point guard who hadn’t scored all night who ultimately defined the game.
From the opening minutes, St. John’s established the style of play it wanted: physical in the paint, disruptive defensively, and willing to push tempo when opportunities opened.
The frontcourt pairing of Zuby Ejiofor and forward Bryce Hopkins repeatedly attacked the interior of the Kansas defense. According to AP reporting, the duo combined for 36 points, punishing the Jayhawks around the rim and at the foul line. Their scoring, paired with St. John’s trademark pressure, held Kansas to just 26 points in the first half.
St. John’s went into the locker room up 34–26, clearly in control of the game’s rhythm. Early in the second half, that control only grew. The Red Storm’s depth allowed Pitino to rotate fresh legs onto the floor, maintaining defensive intensity and pace. Midway through the half, the lead ballooned to 58–45 with about seven and a half minutes left.
For most teams, a 13-point cushion that late in a neutral-site NCAA Tournament game is enough to breathe. But March has a way of turning comfortable margins into pressure cookers in a hurry.
Down 13 and staring at an early exit, Kansas responded with the kind of slow-build rally that has defined its own March history. The Jayhawks tightened the screws defensively, strung together stops, and leaned heavily on their talented backcourt to carve into the deficit.
Freshman star Darryn Peterson and wing Melvin Council Jr. led the charge. Peterson attacked off the dribble and in transition on his way to 21 points, while Council added 15 points and 9 rebounds, helping Kansas win key possessions on the glass.
Behind that duo, the Jayhawks pieced together a 20–7 run that turned a 58–45 game into a 65–65 deadlock. St. John’s suddenly struggled to generate clean half-court looks, and the neutral San Diego crowd began to tilt toward Kansas as each Jayhawks basket raised the noise level inside Viejas Arena.
With the clock winding under a minute, the Red Storm’s once-commanding lead had evaporated. The game felt like it was slipping away from St. John’s, setting up one final, pressure-packed sequence.
After St. John’s came up empty on a late offensive trip, Kansas had a chance to take the lead. Instead, the Jayhawks turned to Peterson to at least pull even. He attacked, drew a foul, and calmly sank both free throws with 13.1 seconds remaining, completing the comeback from 58–45 down and tying the game at 65–65.
Crucially, Kansas still had four fouls to give. Self’s team used them deliberately, bumping ball handlers and reaching in just enough to force St. John’s to inbound multiple times and bleed precious seconds.
Each whistle ratcheted up the anxiety. By the time the final foul was used, only 3.9 seconds remained, leaving St. John’s just enough time to inbound from midcourt, take a few dribbles, and try to create a game-winning look.
As the Red Storm broke the huddle, the ball was going to an unlikely source.
Guard Dylan Darling had endured a nightmare shooting night up to that point. He had missed his first four shots from the field and had yet to score. In a game of stars and future pros, the point guard was statistically a non-factor on the box score.
But according to Rick Pitino, it was Darling who spoke up in the huddle and insisted on taking responsibility for the final play. He asked his coach to run “Power,” a high ball-screen action in the St. John’s playbook. That confidence, especially for a player sitting on zero points in a high-stakes moment, is part of why Pitino had nicknamed him “Big Bells” earlier in the season, calling out his fearlessness.
On the final inbounds, Darling caught the ball moving toward the right sideline, crossed half court, and went to work against Kansas guard Elmarko Jackson. Instead of pulling up or hunting a kick-out three, he drove decisively toward the lane.
Despite being naturally left-handed, Darling attacked with his off hand, slicing down the right alley. As the last few tenths of a second ticked off, he reached the paint and banked in a contested layup. The ball dropped through the net just as the red lights around the backboard lit up.
It was his first and only basket of the night.
Darling tumbled to the floor under the hoop and disappeared under a wave of ecstatic teammates crashing in from the bench. The St. John’s pep band blared as the Red Storm bench emptied in celebration, while Kansas players and fans stood stunned that a remarkable comeback had ended in heartbreak one possession short.
In the locker room, Darling did not gloss over how poorly he had played for much of the night. By his own admission, he said he had been “pretty bad all night long,” making his final act all the more remarkable. He credited his teammates for keeping St. John’s in position to win while he struggled, framing his buzzer-beater as the finishing touch on their work rather than a solo hero act.
Pitino, who has coached national championship teams and a long line of NBA players, spotlighted Darling’s willingness to step up in the critical moment. The coach emphasized that his guard demanded the ball and the play call even while scoreless, calling that kind of confidence and accountability exactly what he expects from a lead guard in March.
Pitino also pointed to Darling’s unconventional road to Queens. Before arriving at St. John’s, the guard had played at Washington State and Idaho State, making the 2025–26 season his first with the Red Storm. That journeyman path, in Pitino’s view, had forged a toughness and maturity that allowed Darling to handle a moment like this so quickly with his new team.
For a roster largely built through the transfer portal, Darling’s composure in that moment felt symbolic. St. John’s has leaned on experienced players to rebuild into a contender, and on this night, a veteran guard with a checkered box score stepped forward to carry them over the line.
Beyond the drama of a single game, the Red Storm’s 67–65 victory over Kansas reverberated through the program’s record books. According to historical data compiled on Wikipedia, this trip marks St. John’s 10th Sweet 16 appearance all time, but its first since 1999.
In the decades since that last regional semifinal run, St. John’s had been largely absent from the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament, watching as other Big East powers made repeat deep runs. For alumni and fans who remember Final Fours and regular national contention, the gap underscored how far the program had drifted from its historical ceiling.
The 2025–26 season has been a clear statement that St. John’s intends to reclaim that status. With the win over Kansas, the Red Storm improved to 30–6 and extended a remarkable stretch in which they have won 21 of 22 games since early January. That run already included both the Big East regular-season championship and a second straight conference tournament title.
Now, with a Sweet 16 berth secured and the drought officially over, St. John’s is no longer just a nostalgic name from college basketball history. It is a live, dangerous factor in the modern March Madness landscape.
The reward for beating Kansas is a high-profile date with the top of the bracket. St. John’s now heads to Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., to face No. 1 overall seed Duke in the East Region semifinals, as outlined in tournament coverage of the 2026 NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament.
For Pitino and his players, the matchup represents another chance to showcase the program’s resurgence against the sport’s elite. For recruits and future Red Storm targets, it is proof that the Queens-based program has real staying power on the national stage.
Whatever happens in Washington, the narrative around this St. John’s team has already shifted. The combination of a conference title sweep, a 30-win season, and an unforgettable Dylan Darling buzzer-beater against Kansas has cemented this group’s place in school history.
From a recruiting and program-building perspective, games like St. John’s vs Kansas 2026 are accelerators. They are the kind of nationally televised, high-drama moments that resonate with high school prospects, portal transfers, and club coaches across the country.
Several key takeaways for athletes and families watching this run:
Rick Pitino’s presence also continues to be a significant draw. A Hall of Famer with national titles on his resume, Pitino brings credibility to how St. John’s uses the transfer portal, builds veteran lineups, and prepares teams for March. For guards in particular, the freedom to call your own number in a Sweet 16-clinching possession says a lot about trust and responsibility in his system.
If you are a high school or club basketball player watching this tournament, there are practical lessons in how St. John’s built this run:
St. John’s wants guards who can pressure the ball, make quick reads, and attack downhill. For bigs and forwards, there is clear value placed on physicality, rebounding, and versatility. Ejiofor and Hopkins fit that model and have been central to the team’s success.
As you explore potential colleges, tools like the Pathley Basketball Hub can help you quickly scan different programs, compare playing styles and conference contexts, and find teams whose systems actually fit your strengths.
St. John’s did not jump straight from the middle of the pack to a Sweet 16. Pitino’s first seasons involved roster reshaping, identity building, and incremental steps forward. By 2025–26, the Red Storm had assembled a veteran core and had already tasted Big East success before breaking through in March.
When researching schools, do not look only at one season’s record. Explore multi-year trends and coaching stability. The Pathley College Directory is built for this kind of broad, early-stage discovery so you can see a wider picture before narrowing down a target list.
Darling’s story is a reminder that it is okay if your first stop is not your final one. Many Division I and high-level players transfer at least once, and the transfer portal has made it normal for athletes to re-evaluate their fit and seek better opportunities.
What matters is moving with intention. Before changing programs, it is essential to understand your academic standing, scholarship implications, and how your game translates to new systems. Using tools like Pathley’s College Fit Snapshot can give you a clearer sense of how you match a particular school across academics, athletics, and campus life on one simple PDF.
For players intrigued by big-city basketball and the Queens environment in particular, Queens College, City University of New York is another program to explore. While it operates in a different competitive context than Division I St. John’s, it shares a similar urban setting and access to New York’s deep hoops culture.
You can learn more about campus life, academics, and athletics at Queens College here:
https://app.pathley.ai/college/queens-college-city-university-of-new-york
Exploring multiple levels and conferences is important; not every player’s best fit will be at a power-conference school, and there are strong basketball and academic options at a wide range of levels.
Moments like the Dylan Darling buzzer-beater against Kansas are exactly why so many athletes dream about playing college basketball in March. But turning that dream into a realistic plan requires more than highlight videos and rankings.
If you are trying to figure out where a program like St. John’s fits into your own recruiting picture, or what other schools might be a better on-court and academic match, Pathley can help:
And if you want ongoing guidance as you build your list and figure out next steps, you can always open Pathley Chat for AI-powered help with college matches, outreach ideas to coaches, and recruiting timelines.
St. John’s breakout 2026 NCAA Tournament run is a reminder that the right fit, the right system, and the right moment can change everything for a program and its players. With the right tools, you can take a more intentional path toward finding your own version of that opportunity.
