How Kentucky matches up vs. No. 22 St. John’s — with a game prediction
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kentucky and No. 22 St. John’s split position advantages; St. John’s leads inside.
- Perimeter shooting is variable; Kentucky guards cool, St. John’s shooters hot.
- Prediction: St. John’s 71-63; overall matchup described as even.
How the Kentucky Wildcats (7-4, 0-0 SEC) and the No. 22 St. John’s Red Storm (7-3, 1-0 Big East) match up at each position for Saturday’s CBS Sports Classic — with a game prediction:
Small forward
• Kentucky’s Collin Chandler (10.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 45.3% FGs, 41.1% treys) shot 51.4% (18 of 35) from behind the 3-point arc in UK’s first six games. Over the past five contests, the 6-foot-5, 205-pound sophomore from Farmington, Utah, has made only 23.8% of his trey tries (5 of 21). Chandler struggled in Kentucky’s 72-60 win over Indiana Saturday night, making only 1 of 7 shots, missing both his 3-point attempts and finishing with four points and two rebounds in 16 minutes.
• St. John’s Joson Sanon (10.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 43.2% treys) has scored in double figures in three of the past four Red Storm games, including 15 points in Tuesday night’s 79-66 win over DePaul in the Big East opener. A 6-5, 200-pound sophomore from Fall River, Massachusetts, Sanon has made 10 of 21 3-pointers combined in those four contests. Last season, as a freshman at Arizona State, Sanon averaged 11.9 points and shot 36.9% on 3-pointers.
Advantage: Even
Power forward
• Kentucky sophomore Trent Noah (5.8 points, 3 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 48.5% FGs) has struggled against high-level competition. The 6-5, 220-pound former Harlan County High School star has averaged 3.7 points and made 2 of 7 shots, 1 of 6 treys, combined in UK’s games vs. North Carolina, Gonzaga and Indiana. Conversely, Noah has averaged 13.5 points and made a combined 9 of 14 shots, 7 of 11 3-pointers, in Kentucky’s past two games against mid-major foes, Tennessee Tech and North Carolina Central.
• On Saturday, St. John’s forward Bryce Hopkins (team-best 14 points, 4.5 rebounds, 51.1% FGs) will achieve the distinction of becoming a former Kentucky player who went on to play against the Wildcats for two different teams. The 6-7, 225-pound redshirt senior averaged 2.1 points and 1.4 rebounds playing for John Calipari at UK in 2021-22. After transferring and becoming a standout at Providence, Hopkins had seven points, eight rebounds and two assists in a 61-53 Friars loss to UK in the 2023 NCAA Tournament round of 64. In his first season at St. John’s, Hopkins has scored in double figures in six of 10 games.
Advantage: St. John’s
Center
• Kentucky freshman Malachi Moreno (9.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 60.3% FGs) has had a rough go offensively in UK’s recent games vs. high-level foes. The 7-foot, 250-pound product of Great Crossing High School in Georgetown had five points and two rebounds on 2-of-6 shooting in the Wildcats’ 94-59 loss to Gonzaga on December 5th. Moreno did not attempt a field goal in the win over Indiana. However, in 21 minutes of playing time vs. IU, Moreno contributed three points, two rebounds, three assists, two blocks and four steals.
• St. John’s big man Zuby Ejiofor (13.9 points, team-best 7.2 rebounds, 53.6% FGs) is the only returning starter from last season’s Big East championship team. A 6-9, 245-pound senior, Ejiofor is the rare player who leads his team in assists (28) and blocked shots (28). The product of Garland, Texas, who began his college career at Kansas, has been terrific this season vs. SEC opponents. In a pair of Red Storm losses, Ejiofor had 27 points and 10 rebounds vs. Alabama and went for 24 points against Auburn. He had 15 points, nine rebounds, eight blocked shots and three steals in a 63-58 win over Mississippi on Dec. 6.
Advantage: St. John’s
Shooting guard
• Kentucky senior Otega Oweh (team-best 14 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 48.6% FGs) had a quiet game in the win over Indiana, finishing with 10 points, four rebounds, an assist and two steals. The 6-4, 220-pound senior from Newark, New Jersey, has scored in double figures in all 11 games this season to date and in 44 of 47 games overall since transferring to UK from Oklahoma.
• A player UK prioritized in recruiting under the Wildcats’ previous coaching staff, St. John’s guard Ian Jackson (11.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, 46.6% field goals, 34.1% treys) has scored in double figures in six of the Red Storm’s first 10 contests. The 6-5, 195-pound sophomore from Bronx, New York, averaged 11.9 points and 2.7 rebounds last season as a freshman at North Carolina.
Advantage: Kentucky
Point guard
• Kentucky senior Denzel Aberdeen (12.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists) has been in a shooting funk over the Wildcats’ past four games. The 6-5, 195-pound senior, an Orlando, Florida, product, has made only 14 of 39 field goals and 2 of 10 3-point shots combined over that span.
• St. John’s senior Oziyah Sellers (11.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 43.5% treys) had 19 points and five rebounds in the Red Storm’s 91-64 win over Rick Pitino’s previous team, the Iona Gaels, last Saturday. A 6-5, 190-pound product of Hayward, California, Sellers played his first two seasons for Southern Cal and played for Stanford last year.
Advantage: Even
Bench
• In the win over Indiana, Kentucky junior point guard Jaland Lowe (5.8 points, 1.8 rebounds, 3 assists) had 13 points, five rebounds and two assists. The 6-1, 170-pound transfer from Pittsburgh gave UK a dribble penetration capacity vs. IU that the Wildcats have lacked with Lowe sidelined by shoulder injuries. ... Power forward Mouhamed Dioubate (12 points, 6.8 rebounds, 61.4% field goals) returned from an ankle injury and went for 14 points, 12 rebounds (five of which were offensive) and five steals vs. the Hoosiers. ... Junior big man Brandon Garrison (5.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 57.8% FGs) has six points, five rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block in 21 hustling minutes vs. Indiana. ... Freshman Jasper Johnson (7.8 points, 1.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists) followed up his 22-point performance vs. North Carolina Central by going scoreless in three minutes vs. IU.
• St. John’s senior Dillon Mitchell (9.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.9 steals) has not fared well this season vs. SEC opponents. Against Alabama, Auburn and Mississippi, the 6-8, 210-pound Mitchell has averaged 5 points. ... A redshirt junior guard, Dylan Darling (5.7 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 36.6% FGs) was the Big Sky Conference Player of the Year last season after averaging 19.8 points for Idaho State. A 6-1, 175-pound product of Spokane, Washington, Darling shot 35.6% on 3-pointers last season but was 1 of 15 from behind the arc this year until he nailed 3 of 5 treys en route to 17 points in the win over DePaul. ... A 6-11, 230-pound sophomore from Lisbon, Portugal, Ruben Prey (4.7 points, 1.8 rebounds) is reputed to have a 7-2 wingspan. Prey is shooting better from the field (62.1%) and from behind the arc (55.6%) than from the foul line (54.5%).
Advantage: Kentucky
Trends and history
• Kentucky leads the all-time series with St. John’s 11-5.
• UK coach Mark Pope played for St. John’s head man Rick Pitino at Kentucky from 1993 through 1996. Pope was a tri-captain (with Tony Delk and Walter McCarty) of Pitino’s 1995-96 NCAA championship team.
• Mark Pope has never coached against St. John’s as UK coach. However, Pope is 0-1 vs. Red Storm head man Rick Pitino. On December 23, 2015, Pope’s Utah Valley team lost to Pitino’s Louisville squad 98-68 at the KFC Yum Center.
• Rick Pitino is 6-12 against Kentucky. All 18 of those games occurred when Pitino was coach at Louisville from 2001 through 2017.
• Kentucky is 5-6 in the CBS Sports Classic, an annual doubleheader that has traditionally featured rotating matchups from among UK, North Carolina, Ohio State and UCLA. St. John’s is participating this season in place of UCLA.
• Crowds at games in Atlanta have traditionally been so pro-Kentucky that UK backers refer to the city as “Catlanta.”
Advantage: Even
Prediction
St. John’s 71, Kentucky 63
This story was originally published December 18, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
