Five things you need to know from UK’s 78-66 win vs. Rick Pitino & St. John’s
Five things you need to know from Kentucky’s 78-66 win vs. St. John’s in the CBS Sports Classic:
1. Jayden Quaintance debuts to boffo reviews.. Before checking in with 15:01 left in the first half Saturday, the 6-foot-10, 255-pound sophomore from Cleveland had not played in a college basketball game since he suffered a torn ACL while playing for Arizona State last Feb. 23.
In his UK premier, Quaintance had a big impact on the game.
In his first stint as a Cat, Quaintance fought for an offensive rebound, got Kentucky an extra possession and scored his first field goal as a Wildcat with 14:29 left in the first half on a 10-foot bank shot.
Fifty-four seconds later, Quaintance brought the pro-UK crowd at the State Farm Arena to life with an emphatic blocked shot.
In half two, Quaintance played a massive role as UK played its best basketball of the season to date.
With 14:07 left in the game, Quaintance bulled his way down the lane from the foul line for a bucket that pulled UK within 43-40.
There was 4:38 remaining when Quaintance scored on a cuff dunk on an offensive rebound to put UK up 63-51. Thirty-six seconds later, he followed in another miss for a 65-53 UK edge.
In 17 minutes, Quaintance finished the game with 10 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots. UK was plus-18 with him on the court.
It was a smashing debut.
2. Jaland Lowe makes another statement. When Jaland Lowe left the game after appearing to re-injure his right shoulder early in the first half, you could see the Kentucky basketball season flash before your eyes.
He did not return for the rest of the half. Without the roster’s only true point guard, the UK offense, as it has been through much of the early season, was again hard to watch as the Wildcats fell behind 32-25 at halftime.
So there was a noticeable burst of energy in the pro-UK crowd in the State Farm Arena when Lowe emerged from the locker room at halftime and commenced working out as his teammates warmed up.
The junior point guard checked in with 17:07 left in the game and Kentucky trailing 38-31.
With Lowe giving the Kentucky offense direction, the Wildcats proceeded to outscore St. John’s 47-28 the rest of the way.
Lowe was sensational after his return, scoring 13 points, grabbing three rebounds and doling out three assists.
There may be no point guard in all of college basketball who means more to his team than does Lowe.
3. Cats vs. ex-UK coaches. With Kentucky’s victory, the Wildcats improved their head-to-head record vs. former UK coach Rick Pitino to 13-6.
Pitino, who led the Wildcats program from 1989 through 1997, went 6-12 against the Wildcats as Louisville head man from 2001-2017.
On those relatively rare instances when UK has faced it former coaches, the Wildcats have tended to fare well.
• John Mauer. Adolph Rupp’s predecessor as Kentucky head coach went 7-22 vs. the Wildcats after leaving UK. As Tennessee head man, Mauer went 7-14 against Kentucky. After moving to Florida, Mauer was 0-8 against the Wildcats.
• Eddie Sutton. “Fast Eddie” never coached against UK after departing Lexington in 1989. Overall, Sutton went 0-1 against Kentucky, coaching Arkansas in a 64-59 loss to the Cats in the 1978 NCAA Tournament Final Four.
• Rick Pitino. See above.
• Tubby Smith. The only time Smith (1997 through 2007) coached against UK after departing as top Cat was a 92-48 loss as High Point head man at Rupp Arena on New Year’s Eve, 2021. Prior to becoming Kentucky coach, Smith went 0-5 vs. the Cats while coaching Georgia (1995-97).
• John Calipari. The 89-79 victory by Arkansas over Kentucky last season at Rupp Arena made Calipari 1-0 vs. UK since he departed as Wildcats coach after the 2023-24 season. Overall, Calipari is 3-4 vs. UK — 1-4 as Massachusetts coach, 1-0 at Memphis and 1-0 at Arkansas.
4. Rick Pitino vs. ex-Cats. Kentucky’s victory made Mark Pope the third former Wildcat player who played for Pitino at UK to score a coaching victory over Ricky P.
Pope is now 1-1 vs. Pitino as a head coach.
He joins Travis Ford (2-4 vs. Pitino) and Steve Massiello (2-4) on the list of ex-Cats who have beaten Pitino as coaches.
John Pelprey (0-2) and Scott Padgett (0-1) have also matched coaching wits with Pitino.
Overall, Pitino is now 12-5 head-to-head coaching against his ex-UK players.
5. Mark Pope in the “Classics.” With UK’s win, Mark Pope is now 2-2 combined as Kentucky head man in the CBS Sports Classic and the Champions Classic.
In Pope’s initial season, 2024-25, the Wildcats upset No. 6 Duke 77-72 in the Champions Classic in Atlanta but were blasted, 85-65, by Ohio State in the CBS Sports Classic in New York City.
This year, the Cats were blasted, 83-66, by Michigan State in the Champions Classic in New York City but upset No. 22 St. John’s in the CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta.
This story was originally published December 20, 2025 at 3:03 PM.
