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Blunt-force honesty has been a trademark of Rick Pitino and Mark Pope's relationship dating back to the early 1990s when Pope was a blossoming recruit. It was Pitino who told Pope that he would quit recruiting him if Chris Webber hopped on board. It was Pitino who told Pope he was on smelling salts to quit medical school after one year at Columbia University. It will be Pitino who is stalking the sidelines on Saturday (12:30 p.m. ET on CBS) when Pope's Kentucky squad tangles with No. 22 St. John's in the CBS Sports Classic.

"Maybe he went from being an oppressor to being a mentor; both of them have been incredible gifts in my life," Pope told CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein on Inside College Basketball Now. "I'm really grateful for him. I can't wait for this game to try and go rip each other's throats out."

It's been nearly 30 years since Pope captained Pitino's 1995-96 National Championship-winning squad at Kentucky. The relationship has evolved from player-coach to mentor-understudy to mano a mano. 

There will be time in the future to reminisce on a three-decade-long relationship that's culminated in this, but today isn't that day.

Saturday's clash isn't a hunky-dory reunion because the desperation is palpable.

"Overwhelmingly, this is really important for his team, and it's really important for my team," Pope said. "I think we both have teams with incredibly high ceilings. Both teams are a work in progress right now. It'll be after the fact, 15 years from now, I'm going to look back and be like, 'That was really cool to play,' but right now, this is serious business for both of us. It's the way it should be. It's the way (Pitino) raised us to be."

Kentucky has had some "come to Jesus" moments amid a rocky first six weeks, which featured a loss to Louisville, a destruction at the hands of Michigan State, an offensive collapse against UNC and a trouncing from Gonzaga. Kentucky's effort, buy-in, energy and everything in between have been questioned and scrutinized.

Last Saturday's win over Indiana, which featured some much-improved defensive bite in the second half, was a salve, if only for a moment.

"Things haven't gone the way we had hoped," Pope said. "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."

It's not quite as dire for a 7-3 St. John's club, which has three nip-and-tuck losses to tournament teams like Alabama, Iowa State and Auburn on its resume. The Johnnies are fresh off Tuesday's ho-hum, 79-66 victory over DePaul in the Big East opener, where Dylan Darling and Joson Sanon combined for 32 points.

"(St. John's) is as tough, physical and imposing as they were last year," Pope said. "They might shoot the ball better, have a bit more versatility, but it's the DNA of that team. Zuby is still Zuby. He's just discarding guys on both ends of the floor. Bryce (Hopkins) is playing great basketball and this backcourt is dangerous. They get downhill. They make shots. They pressure. It's a vintage Coach Pitino team. It's going to be a violent, vicious fistfight."