"St. John's (7-4) had a 41-33 lead after Zuby Ejiofor converted a three-point play with 16:07 remaining. But Kentucky (8-4) turned up the defensive pressure and took control, ripping off a 14-0 run and holding the Red Storm without a field goal for nearly nine minutes. When Oziyah Sellers finally put one in for St. John's with 7:10 to go, the Wildcats had pushed out to a double-digit lead."
"Pitino, who coached at Kentucky for eight years and led the Wildcats to a 1996 national championship, faced his former school for the first time since 2016 - his final season of a successful but scandal-plagued tenure at Louisville. The 73-year-old Hall of Famer also got a chance to go against Kentucky coach Mark Pope, who was a captain on Pitino's championship team in Lexington."
Kentucky rallied from an eight-point deficit by intensifying defense, producing a 14-0 run and holding St. John's without a field goal for nearly nine minutes. Otega Oweh led Kentucky with 20 points while Jayden Quaintance returned from a knee ligament tear to contribute 10 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. St. John's managed only 33% shooting, with Bryce Hopkins scoring 13 points. The game featured former Kentucky coach Rick Pitino facing his old program and included a pro-Kentucky crowd in Atlanta that energized Wildcats' momentum during the second-half surge.
Read at ESPN.com
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