Kentucky vs. St. John's: Preview, Odds & How to Watch

It’s time for one final test ahead of the holidays and the start of SEC play, Kentucky set to take on Rick Pitino and the St. John’s Red Storm — a chance for Mark Pope to take on his former head coach, this time down in Catlanta in front of a sea of blue.

The Wildcats have not performed well against name-brand competition to start the year, but finally got the monkey off their backs with a double-digit win vs. Indiana a week ago. Can they keep the momentum rolling in the CBS Sports Classic, making up for how things went against Ohio State in the same event this time last year? KSR has everything you need to know about the matchup.

Kentucky vs. St. John’s: How to Watch, Listen

• Tipoff: 12:30 p.m. ET
• TV: CBS (Brad Nessler, Bill Raftery, Bruce Pearl)
• Local Radio: UK Sports Network (Tom Leach, Goose Givens)
• AM: 840 WHAS, 630 WLAP
• FM: 98.1 WBUL
• Online: iHeart Radio
• Sirius XM: 106 or 190

You can also follow along on the KSR LIVE BLOG, which will start a few hours before tipoff, and join the conversation on KSBoard.

Join KSR Plus! With a KSR Plus membership, you get access to bonus content and KSBoard, KSR’s message board, to chat with fellow Cats fans and get exclusive scoop.

Season Rewind

Kentucky: KenPom 19

• 11/4: 77-51 W vs. Nicholls
• 11/7: 107-59 W vs. Valparaiso
• 11/11: 96-88 L at No. 12 Louisville
• 11/14: 99-53 W vs. Eastern Illinois
• 11/18: 83-66 L vs. No. 17 Michigan State
• 11/21: 88-46 W vs. Loyola (Md.)
• 11/26: 104-54 W vs. Tennessee Tech
• 12/2: 67-64 L vs. No. 16 North Carolina
• 12/5: 94-59 L vs. No. 11 Gonzaga
• 12/9: 103-67 W vs. NC Central
• 12/13: 72-60 W vs. Indiana

St. John’s: KenPom 19

• 11/3: 108-74 W vs. Quinnipiac
• 11/8: 103-96 L vs. Alabama
• 11/15: 93-60 W vs. William & Mary
• 11/20: 97-49 W vs. Bucknell
• 11/24: 83-82 L vs. Iowa State
• 11/25: 96-81 W vs. Baylor
• 11/26: 85-74 L vs. Auburn
• 12/6: 63-58 W vs. Ole Miss
• 12/13: 91-64 W vs. Iona
• 12/16: 79-66 W vs. DePaul

Series History

Kentucky and St. John’s have met 16 times with the Wildcats leading the all-time series 11-5 — although the Red Storm lead 2-0 in neutral-site battles. They last played in 2011 for the SEC/Big East Invitational with UK pulling off the 81-59 victory, led by Terrence Jones with 26 points, Doron Lamb with 16 and Anthony Davis with 15.

This one is about the coaches, however, with Mark Pope sitting at 1-0 all-time against the Johnnies while Rick Pitino is 6-12 all-time against the Wildcats. It’s their second-ever head-to-head coaching battle, Pitino winning the first one with Louisville against Pope’s Utah Valley squad on December 23, 2015.

Kentucky vs. St. John’s Odds

The oddsmakers have spoken, and they like the Johnnies to defeat the Wildcats, setting the opening line at -2.5 for Pitino’s squad — with that number growing to -3.5 throughout the afternoon.

As for the computers, KenPom is calling for a 78-77 loss for the Cats, giving Pope’s group a 47 percent chance to win. Bart Torvik is going with a final score of 79-76 in favor of the Red Storm with UK only having a 39 percent chance to pull it off in Atlanta. How about someone picking the blue and white? That would be ESPN’s Matchup Predictor, giving Kentucky a 51.5 percent chance to earn the victory.

Thanks to Friends of Coal for powering KSR’s game day coverage.

Kentucky Potential Starters

#1 – Denzel Aberdeen
6-5 – 195 – GUARD – SENIOR
12.1 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 3.2 APG

#5 – Collin Chandler
6-5 – 205 – GUARD – SOPHOMORE
10.5 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 2.7 APG

#00 – Otega Oweh
6-4 – 215 – GUARD – SENIOR
14.0 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 2.3 APG

#9 – Trent Noah
6-5 – 220 – FORWARD – SOPHOMORE
5.8 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 1.1 APG

#24 – Malachi Moreno
7-0 – 250 – CENTER – FRESHMAN
9.5 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 1.6 APG

St. John’s Potential Starters

#11 – Ian Jackson
6-4 – 190 – GUARD – SOPHOMORE
11.5 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 1.3 APG

#4 – Oziyah Sellers
6-5 – 190 – GUARD – SENIOR
11.4 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 2.1 APG

#3 – Joson Sanon
6-5 – 200 – GUARD – SOPHOMORE
10.6 PPG, 3.8 RPG

#23 – Bryce Hopkins
6-7 – 225 – FORWARD – GRADUATE STUDENT
14.0 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 2.4 APG

#24 – Zuby Ejiofor
6-9 – 245 – FORWARD – SENIOR
13.9 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 2.8 BPG

Statistical Comparison

(via Kentucky’s game notes)

Fun stats from UK’s game notes:

• Kentucky is 6-0 on the year when holding the opponent to under 40 percent from the field after forcing Indiana to shoot just 34.1 percent overall for 60 points in the 12-point victory. The Wildcats also forced a season-high 18 turnovers and 13 steals.
• Mo Dioubate returned from a five-game absence due to injury and posted his second double-double of the season, scoring 14 points while grabbing 12 rebounds — including seven on the offensive glass. He became the first D1 player this year to have 14 points, 12 rebounds and five steals in a game and just the third UK player with those numbers dating back to 1996-97.
• UK has had eight different leading scorers or co-leaders this season with four players topping the 20-point mark.
• Otega Oweh has scored in double-figures in all 11 games for Kentucky this season and has now reached double-figures in 44 of his 47 games as a Wildcat.

Pregame Storylines

POPE VS. PITINO

The meaning behind this game needs to explanation, one three decades in the making. Mark Pope was the captain of Kentucky’s 1996 national championship team, coached by none other than Rick Pitino. Exactly 30 years later, the two face off in Catlanta under the bright lights of State Farm Arena in the CBS Sports Classic, Pope now leading his alma mater and Pitino returning home to New York to coach at St. John’s.

Now, both coaches have to put those emotions to the side and focus on winning the game. How will it unfold? History favors Pitino, who is 18-4 all-time when coaching against former players and 1-0 against Pope, his Louisville squad beating Utah Valley 98-68 on Dec. 23, 2015.

“I don’t think I’ll juggle them at all,” Pope said of balancing the emotions of his respect for Pitino vs. wanting to defeat him in this particular matchup. “Like, we have one job, and only one job, and that’s to go win. And they’re not actually — all of my emotions towards Coach, they’re all focused in exactly the same direction. So I love him, and so we’re going to go try and beat him. And he’s one of the best all-time coaches in the history of college basketball, so we’re going to try and go beat him. And, I mean, it’s all the same. Like, it all kind of leads to the same end desire.”

ANOTHER BRYCE HOPKINS REMATCH

Speaking of former BBN connections, how about yet another matchup against Bryce Hopkins, who suited up for the Wildcats as a freshman back in 2021-22 before entering the transfer portal after year one. He averaged 2.1 points and 1.4 rebounds at Kentucky, then saw averages of 15.8, 15.5 and 17.0 points per contest at Providence from 2022-25 before making his way to St. John’s for his final season of eligibility under Pitino.

The former four-star recruit scored seven points and pulled down eight rebounds in his lone post-Kentucky matchup against the Wildcats in the 2023 NCAA Tournament with the Friars. How will this rematch go against his old school?

SLOWING DOWN ZUBY EJIOFOR

Hopkins is the Red Storm’s leading scorer, but Ejiofor is by far the team’s most dominant two-way player, averaging 13.9 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.8 blocks per contest on 54/71/27 shooting splits with two eight-block games already this season. He also went for 27 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals against No. 15 Alabama earlier in the year.

“It starts with Zuby. He’s so physical,” Pope said. “He can just take you and discard you out of the way and cause havoc on the glass. It’ll be a whole team effort to try and win that side of the ball.”

There is one thing that could help slow him down…

WELCOME TO THE SHOW, JAYDEN QUAINTANCE

It’s time, folks.

Exactly nine months to the day following surgery to repair a torn ACL, the decision was made Friday for Quaintance to make his Kentucky debut against Pitino and St. John’s — assuming all goes well leading up to tipoff — sources tell KSR. The future lottery pick originally committed to the Wildcats back in November 2023 under John Calipari, then left for Arizona State when Coach Cal went to Arkansas. 25 months later, he’s set to take the floor in the blue and white, right where he belongs.

Quaintance averaged 9.4 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per contest in his lone season with the Sun Devils. Now, he’ll look to up that production on a bigger stage at Kentucky, anchoring the Wildcats defensively as a dynamic shot-blocker and pure athlete.

CBS SPORTS CLASSIC REDEMPTION

Kentucky owns a 5-6 record all-time in the CBS Sports Classic with Pope entering this one with an 0-1 record in the event personally. We all know how that one unfolded in New York City this time last year, losing by 20 to Ohio State (85-65) at Madison Square Garden, a night the new head coach called his worst in his debut season leading the Wildcats. That has since been replaced by Gonzaga in Nashville, obviously, but that one was a close second, his team coming out flat and getting punked on the national stage. Can they redeem themselves for not only that pre-Christmas loss, but also how things unfolded two weeks ago against the Zags?

Join The Discussion on KSBoard

Want to interact with the KSR crew during the game? Consider joining the conversation on KSBoard, where we’ll be sharing live updates as your eyes and ears in Atlanta while also answering questions and providing real-time analysis (and probably complaining about the officiating).

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Rapid Reaction on the KSR YouTube Channel

Miss the game? KSR’s got you covered with a Rapid Reaction from State Farm Arena immediately after the game, live on the KSR YouTube Channel. We’ll also have wall-to-wall postgame coverage on the website, including highlights, comments from Mark Pope and the players, stats, and takeaways.

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