Otega Oweh scored a game-high 20 points on Saturday, helping lead Kentucky to a 78-66 victory over No. 22 St. John’s in the CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta.
Jaland Lowe added 13 points off the bench for Kentucky (8-4), which won its third straight game and first over a ranked opponent this season. Kam Williams chipped in 11 points, while Jayden Quaintance finished with 10 points and eight boards in his season debut. Freshman Malachi Moreno totaled eight points and a team-high nine rebounds in the win.
Bryce Hopkins led St. John’s (7-4) with 13 points, followed by Zuby Ejiofor and Joson Sanon’s 12 points apiece. Sanon missed all five of his field goal attempts but went 12-for-12 from the free throw line. Ian Jackson scored 10 points for the Red Storm, who shot just 33% (17-for-51) from the field and made just five of their 19 3-point attempts (26.3%). St. John’s led by as many as 10 points in the first half before being outscored 53-34 after halftime.
After trailing by seven at halftime, Kentucky pulled within three on Oweh’s personal 5-0 run.
Ejiofor’s free throws gave the Red Storm a 43-38 lead and Williams drilled a pair of 3-pointers as part of Kentucky’s 14-0 run, giving the Wildcats a nine-point edge with 10:46 left in the second half.
Oziyah Sellers’ layup with 7:10 remaining snapped a nearly nine-minute stretch without a made field goal for St. John’s, pulling the Red Storm within eight.
Quaintance cleaned up a pair of Kentucky misses with put-back dunks, including a slam to give the Wildcats a 65-53 lead with just over four minutes left.
Lowe’s stepback 3-pointer sealed the Wildcats’ win, giving Kentucky a 15-point lead with 1:54 left.
After Dylan Darling’s 3-pointer gave the Red Storm an early 8-4 lead, Quaintance banked in his first basket as a Wildcat, starting a 6-0 spurt that gave Kentucky a two-point edge.
Moreno’s dunk gave Kentucky a 12-10 lead, before Jackson’s layup stamped a 9-0 Red Storm run.
Sellers’ pull-up jumper gave St. John’s its first double-digit lead at 26-16 with 4:55 left in the opening half.
After Kentucky missed its first four 3-point attempts, Mouhamed Dioubate’s triple pulled the Wildcats within six at the 2:28 mark.
Jackson’s layup with 59 seconds left gave St. John’s a 32-25 halftime lead.
–Field Level Media
