St. Francis Red Flash vs. Alabama State Hornets | First Four NCAA Tournament 2025

We have the St. Francis Red Flash (16-17) battling against the Alabama State Hornets (19-15) on March 18th at 6:40 PM ET inside UD Arena in the First Four of the NCAA Tournament. The winner of this game will play against the winner of the top-seeded Auburn Tigers in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday. The Red Flash won the Northeast Conference Tournament to get the automatic bid with a 46-43 win over the Central Connecticut Blue Devils. The Hornets won the SWAC Tournament to get the automatic bid as well with a 60-56 win over the Jackson State Tigers. 

St. Francis Red Flash vs. Alabama State Hornets Odds

St. Francis Red Flash vs. Alabama State Hornets Match Details

• Fixture: St. Francis Red Flash vs. Alabama State Hornets
• Date and Time: Tuesday, March 18, 2025 at 6:40 PM ET
• Location: UD Arena in Dayton, OH

Key Stats

St. Francis Red Flash

The St. Francis Red Storm are looking to make the field of 64 and they are the only team with a sub-.500 record this season to make the NCAA Tournament. The Red Flash are coming off a 46-43 neutral site win against the Central Connecticut Blue Devils and freshman guard Juan Cranford Jr. finished with 14 points, four rebounds, one assist, and one steal. The Red Flash were outrebounded in the game 44-39. 

On offense, St. Francis has been able to score 71.1 points per game and have been able to shoot 46.1% from the floor as well as 33.9% beyond the arc. They have four players scoring at least 10.0 points per game. They are being led by guard Riley Parker with his 13.4 points with a 48.1/39.9/85.9 shooting split. 

Defensively, they have been giving up 73.5 points per game while allowing the opponent to shoot 44.3% from the field and 32.3% from the perimeter. Their offense needs to show the ability to step up more often in a win-or-go-home situation. 

Alabama State Hornets

The Alabama State Hornets are looking to keep their season alive as they head into this First Four matchup. The team is coming off a 60-56 neutral site win against the Jackson State Tigers in a game where they shot 33.8% as a team. 

On offense, Alabama State has been able to score 73.4 points per game and has been able to shoot 40.5% from the floor as well as 33.0% beyond the arc. They have three players scoring at least 12.5 points per game. They are being led by guard CJ Hines with his 14.4 points and 1.1 steals per game thus far. 

Defensively, they have been giving up 72.5 points per game while allowing the opponent to shoot 43.7% from the field and 33.4% from the perimeter. The defense has been excellent and needs to make sure the offense follows. 

Prediction

Getting even to this point of the NCAA Tournament is difficult but there is a difference between getting lucky in the conference tournament and winning it. The KenPom net ratings show a large gap as Alabama State is 273rd with a -9.24 net rating while St. Francis is down at 311th in the sport with a -12.76 net rating. The red Flashes have failed to reach 60 points in two of their last three games so expecting them to score the basketball well is going to be difficult. All in all, go with the Alabama State Hornets to win this game and advance to take on the Auburn Tigers in the First Round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

Final Pick

Alabama State Hornets -175