Rick Pitino hopes Kentucky’s fans take it easy on John Calipari in his return to Lexington on Saturday night. Pitino posted a video on X on Thursday on the matter and explained his reasoning behind it Friday as St. John’s prepared to host Providence Saturday afternoon at the Garden.

St. John’s Coach Rick Pitino reached into his motivational playbook Tuesday night in Washington, with his team up 26 and already with enough points to win what became a 66-41 rout of Georgetown. “I told them at halftime I’ve only had one team in my life that had a big lead like that that just went for blood,

Rick Pitino knows a thing or two about leaving Kentucky -- and returning. And now with John Calipari set to return to Rupp Arena with Arkansas on Saturday night (9 p.m., ESPN), the St. John’s coach has some advice on how Big Blue Nation should treat their former coach.