Jay Bilas explains how John Calipari, Arkansas can upset Rick Pitino, St. John's in NCAA Tournament

No. 10-seed Arkansas is set to battle No. 2-seed St. John’s on Saturday afternoon in the latest installment John Calipari vs. Rick Pitino’s coaching rivalry. Calipari’s Razorbacks are the underdog to Pitino’s Red Storm head into the matchup, but it’s nothing Calipari isn’t used to, according to ESPN’s Jay Bilas.

Bilas compared it to Calipari’s ‘Refuse to Lose’ UMass teams. When his back is against the wall as an underdog, more often than not in his career Calipari has emerged on top. Still, Bilas noted a few key aspects of the game that Arkansas needs to control in order to pull off the upset.

“First and foremost, they’re going to need to rebound, because they have to get out and transition and play ahead of the St John’s defense,” Bilas said during an appearance on SportsCenter on Saturday. “They’re going to have to take care of the ball, because St John’s forces a lot of turnovers. But if you can’t rebound, you can’t run. They’ve got to rebound in order to run, so they got to get out and transition, and they have to drive the ball.

“Arkansas is not a great shooting team. They’re not going to knock in a bunch of threes against the St John’s defense. They’re going to have to put their head down and drive it, move the ball and then drive gaps, get it in the lane, and then attack the basket off the dribble. That’s going to get them to the foul line, where they’ve been most successful. That’s the most efficient place to score on a basketball floor.”

The Razorbacks went to the line 20 times during their 79-72 win over Kansas in the first round. They cashed in on 17 of those attempts for an 85% average. St. John’s committed 17 fouls in its first round win against Omaha, which put them at the line 19 times. Getting the Red Storm in foul trouble early could be key to victory for Arkansas on Saturday.

Of course, the Razorbacks will be without its leading scorer, Adou Thiero for the Round of 32 matchup against St. John’s. He averages 15.6 points per game for the Hogs and is a threat driving in the paint. He averaged five-seven free throw attempts per game for Arkansas, which means they’ll have to look for their physicality elsewhere.

Arkansas will tip-off against St. John’s at 2:40 p.m. ET. The broadcast will air live on CBS.