Kentucky Rallies Past No. 22 St. John's on Saturday
Otega Oweh scored 20 points, grabbed five rebounds and had three steals as Kentucky beat No. 22/20 St. John’s 78-66 on Saturday in the CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta.
Jayden Quaintance, playing in his first game of the season, came off the bench and scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds in just 18 minutes of action. Jaland Lowe had 13 points and three assists, while Kam Williams had 11 points, also off the bench. UK outscored St. John’s 40-10 in bench points in the game.
Defense was the name of the game earlier, with pressure on both ends causing the teams to miss their first seven shots combined. St. John’s would hit a three to take a lead before Oweh got the Cats on the board, making it 3-2. After two St. John’s free throws, Brandon Garrison scored to get UK within one. However, the Red Storm hit another three to lead 8-4.
Quaintance scored his first points as a Wildcat, starting a 6-0 run that included baskets from Oweh and Garrison, giving UK a 10-8 lead. After St. John’s tied the game, Malachi Moreno scored to give UK a two-point advantage. But the Red Storm scored the next nine points, grabbing a seven-point lead in the process.
An Oweh dunk cut the deficit to five before two St. John’s free throws gave the Red Storm a 21-14 lead. Jasper Johnson scored, but three straight Red Storm free throws and a basket extended the lead to 26-16.
Denzel Aberdeen scored to get the Cats within eight and an Oweh free throw cut the deficit to 26-19. After a Red Storm bucket, Mo Dioubate hit a three to make it 28-22. After a St. John’s basket, UK got two free throws from Oweh and one from Dioubate to get within five. However, St. John’s scored the final points of the half and led 32-25 at the half.
Moreno scored the first points of the second half, but St. John’s answered with a bucket of its own. Moreno scored again, but the Red Storm responded with two free throws. Oweh scored to make it 36-31, but the Red Storm made two more free throws to lead 38-31.
Another Moreno bucket got the Cats within five again, but St. John’s got a three-point play to lead 41-33. Oweh then scored on a corner jumper and an old fashioned three-point play to get UK within three, 41-38. St. John’s would make two free throws, but UK got baskets from Quaintance and Lowe to get within one, 43-42. And when Quaintance scored on a putback, Kentucky had a 44-43 lead.
UK extended the lead on a Kam Williams three from the wing, followed by a Lowe floater and another Williams three. The 14-0 run gave the Cats a 52-43 lead. After two St. John’s free throws, Lowe scored again and the Cats led 54-45. St. John’s would make four consecutive free throws to get within five.
Kentucky answered with five straight free throws, three from Williams and two from Oweh, to lead 59-49. St. John’s got its first basket in more than nine minutes to get within eight, but two Lowe free throws made it 61-51. Quaintance scored on a putback dunk to make it a 12-point game. After St. John’s scored, Quaintance scored again to make it 65-53 with 4:02 to play.
Quaintance scored again and Oweh made two free throws to give UK a 14-point lead. From there, the Cats would maintain a double-digit lead until the end.
Kentucky returns to action on Tuesday, hosting Bellarmine inside Rupp Arena. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on SEC Network Plus.
