Kentucky flipped the script after a sluggish first half

Kentucky’s 78-66 win over St. John’s was decided almost entirely by what happened after halftime. A tale of two halves, they say.

In the first half, UK’s offense looked awful. The Wildcats shot 36 percent from the field, 17 percent from three, and 67 percent from the line. They turned the ball over 11 times, leading to 16 St. John’s points off turnovers, and managed just 25 points in 20 minutes. The offense was clunky and the shot selection poor, drawing comparisons to the 2020-21 team that missed the tournament.

Even worse, Jaland Lowe, the driver of the offense, reinjured his shoulder seconds after he checked into the game. He held his right shoulder as he walked straight to the locker room, fueling speculation that we may have seen him for the last time this season.

All things considered, being down just seven at the break felt lucky. And then the game flipped.

Kentucky’s second-half run

Kentucky came out of the locker room looking like a completely different team. After shooting 36 percent and committing 11 turnovers in the first half, the Wildcats flipped the script, outscoring St. John’s 53-34 in the second, including a 14-0 run that turned the game upside down. They shot 55 percent from the field and made 14 of 16 free throws after the intermission.

Fans also exhaled when Lowe checked back into the game and put those long-term worries to bed. He and Jayden Quaintance, who made his Kentucky debut, were game-changers for the Wildcats. Lowe had 13 points, three assists, and three rebounds in 15 minutes played after returning.

Quaintance looked like Shaq at times, not an 18-year-old working his way back from an ACL injury. Defensively, he battled Zuby Ejiofor and helped take away St. John’s interior scoring, altering shots and cleaning up mistakes. He didn’t need any help-defense inside. On offense, JQ’s dunks were the punctuation marks during Kentucky’s run. He was the best player on the floor in his first game of the season.

Kentucky also got exactly what it needed from Kam Williams. After a quiet first half, Williams found his rhythm after halftime, hitting a couple of timely three-pointers during the scoring run. The threat of Williams opened driving lanes for Lowe and Otega Oweh, who scored 11 of his game-high 20 points after halftime.

That second-half turnaround and healthy roster have Big Blue Nation dreaming big again.

A two-game trend and school history

Kentucky’s second-half surge against St. John’s felt familiar to last Saturday. For the second straight game, the Wildcats trailed by seven points at halftime, doing so against both Indiana and St. John’s in back-to-back outings. In both games, Kentucky flipped the switch after the break, marking the first time in school history that Kentucky came back from being down at least seven points at halftime in consecutive games.

Over those two games, the Wildcats are +38 in the second half, turning slow starts into decisive wins. It’s fun in the end, but the stress can be a little much for Big Blue Nation. Here’s hoping for faster starts now that the full roster is available.

First vs. second half stats