Last game, head coach Rick Pitino’s St. John’s team faltered at the worst moment. After climbing back from a 7-point deficit, they had a chance to secure their first win over Iowa State but missed four straight shots. A late pushback by Dillon Mitchell cut the gap to one, but ended with a tight 83-82 loss. Now, St. John’s must regroup as they prepare for the unbeaten Baylor Bears.

Baylor arrives in the opposite position. The Bears held off a late Creighton rally for an 81-74 win and continue to look sharp. Scott Drew’s group now faces its first major test against a motivated St. John’s team looking to rebound. Here’s how the matchup shapes up.

How to watch St. John’s vs Baylor?

Date: Tuesday, November 25, 2025, 4:30 pm ET

Location: Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada

TV: truTV

Streaming: FuboTV/DirecTV

St. John’s vs Baylor: Injury Report

St. John’s Injury Report

Justin Bodo Bodo: Out: Reason: Bodo Bodo suffered an arm injury in the offseason. There is no timetable for his debut with Baylor.

JJ White: Questionable: Reason: White left their game against Creighton with “Right Foot Discomfort.”

Baylor Bears Injury Report

Imran Suljanovic: Out: Reason: Suljanovic is out due to a knee injury, and he is projected to miss the remainder of the season

St. John’s vs Baylor: Projected Starting Lineups

St. John’s Red Storm

• Bryce Hopkins 
• Zuby Ejiofor 
• Joson Sanon 
• Oziyah Sellers 
• Dylan Darling 

Baylor Bears

• Cameron Carr 
• Tounde Yessoufou 
• Dan Skillings Jr. 
• Obi Agbim 
• Michael Rataj 

St. John’s vs Baylor: Preview and Prediction

St. John’s bubble of expectations has started to lose air. In their 5 games, a 3-2 record with the losses coming against both their ranked opponents is not what Pitino would have wanted.

“With the game on the line, we just didn’t come up with the rebounds necessary to put the other team away,” Rick Pitino said after the loss. “Unfortunate that we lost another good game.”

They are effectively out of contention to win the Players Era Festival, but a strong reply against Baylor is what the fans are hoping for. 

On paper, it seems Rick Pitino’s side is a decent rebounding team, but their matchup against Iowa State shows they can be susceptible there. Iowa State had 35 rebounds per game coming into that match-up, but ended up winning the battle 38-36. If Baylor can do the same, they have a legitimate chance at an upset. 

The Baylor defense will be tested by the talents of Zuby Ejiofor, Bryce Hopkins, and Oziyah Sellers. Their interior defense is decent at best, and this deep St. John’s roster can potentially exploit that. According to Evan Miya Analytics, Baylor has just 4.6 defensive points per 100 possessions, or D-rate, which is 74th in the country. For more context, St. John’s has a D-Rate of 10.2 and is 17th in the country.

(D-Rate Definition: Team Defensive Efficiency Rating reflects a team’s expected defensive efficiency. This number can be interpreted as the defensive points per 100 possessions better than average expected when playing against an average D1 team. However, each team’s D-Rate is actually based on how its defense would perform against other similarly ranked teams. A higher rating is better.)

Cameron Carr, who has averaged 23 points and 5.5 rebounds so far, will need to step up, along with Tounde Yessoufou, if this 8-man Baylor rotation has to beat St. John’s. ESPN favors St. John’s winning this match as its Match Predictor gives them a 65% chance. However, we have seen some weakness from Pitino’s side early in the season, and if Baylor can find a way to exploit that, it’s anyone’s game.