Kentucky vs. St. John's live updates: Rick Pitino coached Mark Pope, faces former pupil in CBS Sports Classic

In their first appearance in the CBS Sports Classic the No. 22 Red Storm will face the Wildcats in Atlanta

The first of two magnificent games Saturday in the CBS Sports Classic from Atlanta kicks off at 12:30 p.m. ET between No. 22 St. John's and Kentucky. The tilt features a showdown between Johnnies coach Rick Pitino, formerly coach at Kentucky from 1989-1997, and second year Wildcats coach Mark Pope, formerly a player under Pitino who was part of a championship team for UK in 1996.

The classic pupil vs. mentor matchup favors St. John's -- by 2.5 points, to be precise -- but Kentucky's $20-plus million roster despite its struggles has plenty of ammo to pull off this upset. Adding to the intrigue is star transfer Jayden Quiaintance's expected season debut for the Wildcats after a long rehab off a torn ACL.

We should be in for not just a good game but a good afternoon on CBS, so we'll be at our stations manning the action below following it all in our live blog. 

Keep it locked here as CBS Sports provides you with live updates, highlights and analysis as Kentucky battles St. John's in the CBS Sports Classic

[Dec 20, 2025 at 1:42 pm ET · Kyle Boone]

HALFTIME: St. John's 32, Kentucky 25

The first of a doubleheader in the CBS Sports Classic from Atlanta is -- at least so far! -- shaping up to be a defensive battle. That favors No. 22 St. John's so far as it takes a seven-point lead into the break.

Ian Jackson leads the Johnnies with seven points and Zuby Ejiofor and Oziyah Sellers each have five. 

Kentucky's offense -- or lack thereof, rather -- has been the story so far. It is 1-of-6 from 3-point range, 10-of-28 from the floor and has committed 11 turnovers through 20 minutes of play. St. John's has taken advantage with 16 points off those forced turnovers.

[Dec 20, 2025 at 1:16 pm ET · Kyle Boone]

There's been two short but quality stints for Kentucky big man Jayden Quaintance in this one showcasing his versatility and value. Two points, two boards and one block in four minutes. Also some stuff not showing up in the box score: Hustle play to try and chase down a Johnnies guard in transition and a big jump ball on a 50/50 rebound. He's made a good impact already. 

[Dec 20, 2025 at 1:08 pm ET · Kyle Boone]

7:52, 1H: St. John's 14, Kentucky 12

St. John's is back on top but it has not been a stellar showing thus far from either team. They are a combined 10-37 shooting from the field and Kentucky has six turnovers to St. John's four. UK has also missed all four of its 3-point attempts.

Perhaps to be expected from two very good defensive teams that have been streaky on offense to open the season -- but an ugly start, nonetheless. 

[Dec 20, 2025 at 12:56 pm ET · Kyle Boone]

11:47, 1H: Kentucky 10, St. John's 8

Kentucky grabs its first lead of the game going into the U12 media timeout after a 6-0 run over just under a three-minute span. Comes just as the Johnnies' offense is sputtering, too. St. John's has missed eight of its last nine shots from the field and has been scoreless for the last 3:25 of game action.

[Dec 20, 2025 at 12:52 pm ET · Kyle Boone]

Star Arizona State transfer big man Jayden Quaintance, who has not played this season as he rehabs a torn ACL from last season, has checked in for Kentucky and is making his season debut, as expected. Big news for UK, but unfortunately comes just as guard Jaland Lowe exits with an apparent aggravation of his nagging shoulder injury.

[Dec 20, 2025 at 12:49 pm ET · Kyle Boone]

Kentucky guard Jaland Lowe checked in to the game for the first time today with just over 16 minutes remaining and immediately aggravated his injured shoulder while contesting a shot inside the paint. Lowe walked right to the locker room after the play and is presumably getting further evaluation.

He was playing with a brace on the shoulder but safe to say his return might be questionable. Appeared to be in a lot of pain.

[Dec 20, 2025 at 12:25 pm ET · Kyle Boone]

Today marks the first time St. John's coach Rick Pitino faces his former employer, Kentucky, as the Johnnies coach. He is 6-12 all-time facing the Wildcats -- a record accumulated all while coaching at Louisville.

Atlanta is a special place for Pitino as it was the city where he led Louisville to its 2013 national championship. He is 9-1 in games played in Atlanta with a nine-game winning streak in the city.

[Dec 20, 2025 at 12:19 pm ET · Kyle Boone]

Our team of experts is split today on who takes the win between No. 22 St. John's and Kentucky from Atlanta. The line opened St. John's -2.5 but has since dropped to St. John's -1.5.

I'm taking the Johnnies to win and I liked laying the 2.5-point spread. Think I'm still there with it being a 1.5-point spread but it's close. Of the six of us who made picks, four like St. John's in this one and two are taking UK. Pivotal game for both.

[Dec 20, 2025 at 11:25 am ET · Kyle Boone]

It has been an ugly start to the season for one of college basketball's most expensive rosters. At 7-4, the unranked Kentucky Wildcats -- who opened the season inside the top 10 of the rankings -- have lost to Louisville, Michigan State, North Carolina and most recently to Gonzaga (by a margin of 35 points).

But UK has won back-to-back games leading into Saturday including a 72-60 win over Indiana last weekend. And now the team is expected to add big man Jayden Quaintance into its rotation for the first time after he missed the team's first 11 games recovering from a torn ACL.

Quaintance was an All-Big 12 defender as a freshman last season at Arizona State.

"Things haven't gone the way we had hoped," Pope said this week. "The expectation here is to win every game always. It hasn't gone like that, but I love being in the trenches. I love the anxiety and the stress, whether that's with my staff in the war room or on the practice floor, unleashing some frustration. Finding a new voice. Finding answers to the pathway that we know where we're going. I love the fact that it's sleepless night after sleepless night because we're trying to get this exactly right. It's fun when you're sitting on a team with unlimited potential."

Kentucky will be the narrow underdog today vs. St. John's but we should be in for a good one between two tough teams who seem to be figuring out some answers after slow starts to the season.

[Dec 20, 2025 at 11:00 am ET · Kyle Boone]

There are no shortage of sports options on the TV today but I strongly advise figuring our a situation to make sure CBS is on. Kentucky-St. John's -- which tips at 12:30 p.m. ET -- is part of a doubleheader in the CBS Sports Classic and the first of three terrific games airing on CBS.

Here's what to expect Saturday.

CBS TV schedule 

• 12:30 p.m. ET: No. 22 St. John's vs. Kentucky
• 2:00 p.m. ET: Colorado State vs. Utah State (CBS Sports Network)
• 3:00 p.m. ET: No. 12 North Carolina vs. Ohio State
• 5:30 p.m. ET: No. 8 Houston vs. No. 14 Arkansas

That's the goods!

[Dec 20, 2025 at 10:32 am ET · Kyle Boone]

Today's game is more than just a terrific matchup between No. 22 St. John's and Kentucky. It's a matchup between former Kentucky coach Rick Pitino taking on his current team -- and former pupil.

Pitino coached at UK from 1989-1997 won a championship there in 1996 -- in what was current UK coach Mark Pope's final season with the team. Pope played with the Wildcats in 1994 and 1995 after transferring from Washington.

"I'm really grateful for him," Pope said this week on Inside College Basketball Now. "I can't wait for this game to try and go rip each other's throats out."