Jayden Quaintance, Otega Oweh power Kentucky past No. 22 St. John’s
By Ethan Stone
Published:
Welcome to the party, Jayden Quaintance.
Kentucky basketball earned a much-needed win on Saturday, downing the No. 22 St. John’s Red Storm 78-66 to improve to 8-4 on the season. Kentucky’s best win of the season comes after the Wildcats dropped several opportunities against Michigan State, Gonzaga, North Carolina and Louisville, and will be great to have when comparing resumes becomes important in March.
And as alluded to above, Quaintance was the star of the show. The Arizona State transfer made his season debut and dropped 10 points with 8 rebounds and 2 blocks, leading the team at +18. Five of his eight rebounds were on the offensive glass, and most of them came in the second half. The sequence below summarizes Quaintance’s day nicely:
Of course, Oweh has to get his flowers, too. After an uncharacteristically slow start to the season, Oweh posted his best game yet by scoring 20 points with 5 rebounds and 3 steals. Kam Williams and Jaland Lowe both eclipsed 10 points as well, combining to score 24 points off the bench.
The vibes in the second half of this one could not have been more different than the vibes in the first half. That’s partly because Lowe suffered a right shoulder injury right after checking in for the first time. That shoulder has nagged at Lowe all season, so Kentucky was surely delighted to see Lowe return and perform the way he did in the second half. The team’s veteran point guard finished the day +17, behind only Quaintance in plus/minus.
The Wildcats have just one non-conference matchup to go before the start of conference play in January. Kentucky will face Bellarmine on Tuesday before taking Christmas break.
Ethan Stone is a Tennessee graduate and loves all things college football and college basketball. Firm believer in fouling while up 3.
