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Mark Pope, Rick Pitino postgame 'drive-by' called out by Bruce Pearl

Barkley-Truaxby: Barkley Truax12/20/25BarkleyTruax

Kentucky defeated St. John’s 78-66 to improve to 8-4 on the season. The victory gave Mark Pope his first victory over his former coach at UK and mentor, Rick Pitino.

Instead of a sentimental moment during the postgame handshake line, Pitino appeared to blow past the captain of his 1996 national championship squad. Pope’s Wildcats outscored Pitino’s Red Storm 53-34 in the second half.

Former Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl, Brad Nessler and Bill Raftery were on the call for the CBS Sports Classic matchup, and each of them reacted to the moment. Pearl called it a “little bit of a drive-by”

Raftery said that everyone knows the respect these two coaches have for one another. However, “everybody loves to win.” Nessler agreed, saying that although the two ate dinner together on Friday night, they most likely won’t be tonight.

The victory marked the first time Kentucky played at full strength during the 2025 season. Jayden Quaintance made his Kentucky debut after rehabbing an ACL injury for the past nine months. Jaland Lowe missed nearly all of the first half after appearing to reaggravate his previously injured shoulder but returned to play big minutes in the second half.

Quaintance scored 10 points and hauled in eight rebounds while shooting 5-7 from the floor. Lowe finished with 13 points (tied for his season high), three assists and three rebounds. They played 17 and 15 minutes, respectively. Kentucky was led in scoring by Otega Oweh, who logged 20 points and five rebounds during 34 minutes on the court.

St. John’s led by as many as 10 points during matchup and led 32-25 going into the halftime break. Four starters finished the game in double figures, including 13 points from Bryce Hopkins. Hopkins is a fifth-year college journeyman who began his career at UK during the 2021-22 season.

Following Kentucky’s win over vs. St. John’s in Atlanta, the Wildcats will turn their attention toward Tuesday’s home game vs. Bellarmine. That’s the final game of non-conference play for the Wildcats before they take on Alabama on the road on Jan. 3.

They head into that stretch having won each of its last three games by double digits, including quality wins over the likes of Indiana, and now St. John’s. Tip-off between UK and the in-state Bellarmine Knights is set for Dec. 23 at 1 p.m. ET live on SECN+.