Three keys for heavy favorite St. John’s vs. underdog Omaha

Three keys for No. 2 seed St. John’s in Thursday’s first-round NCAA Tournament first round matchup against No. 15 seed Omaha:

Defend the 3

Omaha is a strong 3-point shooting team, led by guards JJ White and Tony Osburn.

They each shoot it at better than 40 percent and combine to attempt 9.4 3s per game.

As a team, the Mavericks make 36.7 percent of their tries from distance, the 43rd-best mark in the nation.

Set the tone

Start fast and be aggressive. Don’t let Omaha think it can hang around.

When a big underdog gets down early, it usually stays down.

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An early lead is important for St. John’s to erase any thoughts of an upset.

Pound it inside

The Mavericks are 283rd nationally in two-point field goal defense (53.5 percent).

They are 286th in blocked shots percentage at 7.3.

They lack a rim protector, which St. John’s physical trio Kadary Richmond, RJ Luis Jr. and Zuby Ejiofor should be able to exploit.