Jeff Goodman fires off three words that Kentucky fans have been dying to hear

Kentucky basketball needed more than a win over St. John’s. It needed a pulse check. It needed a sign that this thing is actually turning the corner. It got both.

Jeff Goodman gave Big Blue Nation that sign with three little words.

KENTUCKY. IS. BACK.

Jeff Goodman jumps on the Kentucky basketball is back bandwagon

You might not have Goodman on your Kentucky media bingo card of favorites after years of tension during the Calipari era. But this is a different moment and a different relationship. Goodman has been plugged in with Mark Pope from the start and was one of the first national voices hinting that Jayden Quaintance would finally see the floor this week. When he talks about this version of Kentucky, it hits a little differently.

And the performance matched the message. After a brutal first half where Kentucky shot poorly, turned it over 11 times and watched Jaland Lowe limp to the locker room, the second half looked like a team waking up to its potential. The Cats cleaned up the live-ball mistakes, out-rebounded St. John’s by 11 and muscled them in the paint 30 to 20. This was not a finesse win. This was a grown-up, December statement.

Lowe’s return in the second half changed the entire feel of the game. With their point guard back, Kentucky’s offense finally had some rhythm, the tempo settled in and those careless giveaways started to disappear. Suddenly, the same team that looked lost for long stretches a few weeks ago started stacking winning possessions.

They played with more and more energy, they fought hard and most importantly they played for each other.

So are they totally “back” to being a top ten team right now? Maybe not yet. But the “yet” is doing a lot of heavy lifting. Mark Pope has preached that word all year long amidst the struggles this team has been facing, that this roster is a work in progress, and nights like this are exactly what he means. You can see the outline of what this group can become if it stays healthy and keeps leaning into its defensive identity.

Two Power 4 wins, a four-game streak going into SEC play and a national analyst throwing red meat to BBN by declaring Kentucky back. December does not hand out banners, but it does hand out belief. For the first time in a while, the Wildcats are starting to look like a team worth believing in again.