UNI vs. Saint John’s First Round Game Preview, Picks, Betting Odds & Data

By Thom Cunningham | Mar 19, 2026, 5:53pm

The back-to-back Big East champion Saint John’s Red Storm look to make noise under Rick Pitino this March Madness, but first have a date with the always dangerous UNI Panthers. Let’s get you ready for this interesting East Region matchup with betting odds, predictions and data analysis.

UNI vs. Saint John’s Game Information

Date: Friday, Mar. 20, 2026
Time: 7:10 p.m. ET
Network: CBS
Region: East
Location: San Diego, California
Venue: Viejas Arena

UNI vs. Saint John’s Betting Resources

UNI vs. Saint John’s Betting Odds

UNI vs. Saint John’s Betting Data

UNI Panthers

Region Odds:
Sweet 16 Odds:
Elite Eight Odds:
Final Four Odds:
National Title Odds:

Seed: No. 12
Record: 23-12
Conference: MVC
PS/G: 69.9
PA/G: 61.3
ORtg: 109.1
DRtg: 95.5

Saint John’s Red Storm

Region Odds:
Sweet 16 Odds:
Elite Eight Odds:
Final Four Odds:
National Title Odds:

Seed: No. 5
Record: 28-6
Conference: Big East
PS/G: 81.6
PA/G: 70
ORtg: 114.5
DRtg: 98.2

UNI vs. Saint John’s Key Players

UNI Panthers

Trey Campbell (SR) – 13.7 ppg
Leon Bond (JR) – 11.9 ppg; 4.8 rpg
Will Hornseth (SO) – 11.2 ppg; 4.6 rpg

Saint John’s Red Storm

Zuby Ejiofor (SR) – 16.3 ppg; 7.1 rpg
Bryce Hopkins (SR) – 13.5 ppg; 6.2 rpg
Oziyah Sellers (SR) – 10.7 ppg

UNI vs. Saint John’s Betting Analysis

Saint John’s is a great team to bet on paper entering this March Madness tournament, riding a current 4-0 ATS streak that saw them destroy UConn for the Big East tournament title. On a neutral court, Saint John’s also holds a 5-2 ATS record this season while also posting a 7-3 ATS mark away from Queens. Overall, Saint John’s is 20-14 on the ATS and with one of the nation’s best defense, 13-21 on the O/U.

UNI is no slouch though, as mentioned above, entering the tournament on a 3-0 ATS run while also covering four of six games on a neutral court. The Panthers are also 5-2 on the spread when playing as an underdog, while posting a 20-14 ATS mark this season. UNI also supports the Under more times than not, 14-20 on the season.

UNI vs. Saint John’s Best Bet, Pick & Prediction

Despite the Under trends given above, we will go Over the total based on a few other trends and the score projection given. We get a low line because of the Unders both teams hit this season, but Saint John’s has actually gone Over 132 total points in 20 straight games when playing during the daytime. That’s hard to ignore. With both schools posing threats to the ATS market, we’ll lean Over based on the Saint John’s trend given and despite the amount of Unders between the schools, UNI is on a current 2-0 Over run itself.

Score Prediction: Saint John’s 74, UNI 69
Best Bet: Over 131 (-110)

Photo Credit: AP/Frank Franklin II

Thom Cunningham

Thom Cunningham is the Lineups.com News Editor and has been involved with sports media for almost two decades at Spectrum, VegasInsider.com, Oddschecker, VSiN and much more as a content producer - focused on the betting and gaming space over the last decade tracking insights, data analytics and covering various markets from the NFL to the Oscars.