Ohio State upset No. 4 Kentucky 85-65 on Saturday in the second game of the CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden. The Buckeyes took a 39-30 advantage into halftime and never looked back to secure the biggest win of first-year coach Jake Diebler's tenure.
The Buckeyes withstood multiple runs from Kentucky in the second half to secure the upset. Ohio State star guard Bruce Thornton scored a team-high 30 points and John Mobley Jr. added 15. Ohio State big man Aaron Bradshaw scored 11 points against his former team. The former five-star prospect played last season for John Calipari at Kentucky and transferred this past offseason to play at Ohio State.
Kentucky guard Otega Oweh struggled from the floor (4 of 12) but knocked down all 13 of his free-throw attempts for a team-high 21 points. Only Oweh, Andrew Carr and Jaxson Robinson were the only Kentucky players that finished in double figures.
The Wildcats' last lead came with less than nine minutes remaining in the first half. During the first 11 minutes of play, there were eight lead changes and two ties before Ohio State settled into a groove for good.
Ohio State moved to 8-4 with the win, while Kentucky dropped to 10-2 with the loss. The Wildcats suffered their first loss of the Mark Pope era earlier this month to Clemson in the ACC/SEC Challenge.
Ohio State's star guard scored a game-high 30 points in the win over Kentucky. Thornton made 8 of 13 attempts from the floor and missed just one of his 14 attempts for the charity stripe to help his team secure their biggest win of the season. Ohio State is 4-1 this season when Thornton scores at least 20 points.
Kentucky entered the weekend as the No. 1 scoring offense (91.3 ppg). Pope's squad had looked incredible on that end of the floor before this game but had a lackluster shooting performance against the Buckeyes. Kentucky shot 17 of 57 from the floor, which included missing 18 of 22 attempts from the 3-point line. This should be chalked up as more of an outlier because of how well Kentucky has played on that end of the floor, but this kind of performance won't cut it in the loaded SEC.
Ohio State recorded its biggest win of the Diebler era on Saturday with a 86-65 win over No. 4 Kentucky at Madison Square Garden. The Buckeyes came into this game on a cold streak, having lost three of their last five games. The most recent loss to Auburn in Atlanta was the worst. Ohio State looked outmatched against the Tigers last weekend in the 91-53 loss but responded in a huge way against the No. 4 team in the country. This win should inspire confidence that Ohio State can be a legit Big Ten title contender.
Ohio State upset No. 4 Kentucky 85-65 on Saturday in the second game of the CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden. The Buckeyes took a 39-30 advantage into halftime and never looked back to secure the biggest win of first-year coach Jake Diebler's tenure.
The Buckeyes withstood multiple runs from Kentucky in the second half to secure the upset. Ohio State star guard Bruce Thornton scored a team-high 30 points and John Mobley Jr. added 15. Ohio State big man Aaron Bradshaw scored 11 points against his former team. The former five-star prospect played last season for John Calipari at Kentucky and transferred this past offseason to play at Ohio State.
Kentucky guard Otega Oweh struggled from the floor (4 of 12) but knocked down all 13 of his free-throw attempts for a team-high 21 points. Only Oweh, Andrew Carr and Jaxson Robinson were the only Kentucky players that finished in double figures.
The Wildcats' last lead came with less than nine minutes remaining in the first half. During the first 11 minutes of play, there were eight lead changes and two ties before Ohio State settled into a groove for good.
Ohio State moved to 8-4 with the win, while Kentucky dropped to 10-2 with the loss. The Wildcats suffered their first loss of the Mark Pope era earlier this month to Clemson in the ACC/SEC Men's Challenge.
Kentucky hasn't scored a field goal in nearly the last four minutes, and its hopes of mounting a late comeback are on life support. Ohio State leads 72-61 with 3:30 remaining in regulation.
Kentucky had made just one of its last nine field goal attempts. The Wildcats trail 66-54 with 7:46 left in regulation. Unless Kentucky starts making shots down the stretch, Ohio State will walk away with a massive win over the No. 4 team in the country.
We have reached the U12 Media Timeout from Madison Square Garden. Ohio State leads No. 4 Kentucky 59-51. Oweh is keeping Kentucky in this game with his free-throw shooting. The Oklahoma transfer is only 3-of-9 from the floor but has made all 13 of his attempts from the charity stripe. Ohio State star guard Bruce Thornton is up to 16 points.
Kentucky is chipping away at Ohio State's lead. The Wildcats are currently on a 6-0 run thanks to buckets by Koby Brea and Oweh to cut Ohio State's lead down to six. Oweh has a game-high 15 points for Kentucky with 14:20 remaining in regulation.
Ohio State extended its lead to 15 points during the first two minutes of the second half behind buckets from Mobley, Bradshaw and Devin Royal. Kentucky went on a 6-0 run in the final minute before the U16 Media Timeout to cut into the Ohio State deficit. Otega Oweh leads all scorers with 11 points.
Ohio State leads No. 4 Kentucky 39-30 at halftime of the CBS Sports Classic doubleheader from Madison Square Garden. The Buckeyes built their lead up after holding the Wildcats without a made field goal for nearly eight minutes.
Ohio State big man Aaron Bradshaw scored a team-high nine points against his former team during the first 20 minutes of play. The former five-star prospect played for coach John Calipari last season at Kentucky before transferring to Ohio State this past offseason.
Kentucky forward Andrew Carr scored a team-high nine points. The Wildcats missed nine of their 11 attempts from beyond the arc and shot only 34.8% from the floor. Kentucky's lone loss this season came against Clemson on the road in the ACC/SEC Men's Challenge.
Ohio State is currently on an 8-0 run over the last 3:45 to stretch its lead to seven. Kentucky is approaching a scoring drought of almost five minutes. Mark Pope's squad has turned the ball over four times during that span. Despite shooting just 1-of-5 from beyond the arc, Ohio State leads 28-21 with 4:26 left in the first half.
Through the first 14 minutes of action, this game has featured two ties and eight lead changes. Bradshaw and Carr have scored six points each for their respective teams. This is shaping up to be a good one.
Ohio State has made four of its last five field goal attempts to tie the game at 16 heading into the U12 Media Timeout. Kentucky forward Andrew Carr has scored a game-high six points, and he is one of five players to score a basket for his team during the first eight minutes of action.
Ohio State guard John Mobley Jr. kicked off the scoring in this one with a deep 3-pointer. Mobley entered the day as one of the top statistical 3-point shooters in the country. Ohio State big man Aaron Bradshaw — a former Kentucky player under coach John Calipari — checked into the game and scored a pair of buckets.
In the first leg of the CBS Sports Classic doubleheader, North Carolina used a second-half surge to upset No. 18 UCLA. No. 4 Kentucky will face Ohio State at 6:05 p.m. EST.
Thornton is averaging 14.8 points and a team-high 5.1 assists for the Buckeyes this season. Thornton has scored at least 20 points in four games thus far, which includes him recording 20 points, five assists and five rebounds in a win over Texas in Ohio State's opening game. Thornton scored only three points in a loss to Auburn last weekend.
College basketball fans may remember Butler from the Final Four in 2023. Butler knocked down a game-winning jumper at the buzzer to eliminate FAUand send his team to the national title game against UConn. Butler has arguably been Kentucky's best player through the first month and a half. Butler had a perfect shooting performance against Louisville last weekend. Butler made all 10 attempts from the floor (including six 3-pointers) and finished with 33 points.
The former Oklahoma standout is doing it at both ends of the floor. Oweh is Kentucky's leading scorer and also one of its top defenders. Oweh is averaging a team-high 1.4 steals and is making highlight-worthy plays on the defensive end. In Kentucky's game against Duke last month, Oweh guarded Duke star freshman Cooper Flagg in the clutch and forced a key turnover that ultimately sealed the win.
These two teams are going opposite directions -- and fast -- entering the weekend. Kentucky is 10-1 having beat Gonzaga and Louisville in the last two weeks. Ohio State is 7-4 with a 2-3 record in its last five games and a lot of uncertainty as far as its roster due to injuries and the news this week that Meechie Johnson is taking a leave of absence. I know which team I prefer here. Prediction: Kentucky -5
