Ohio State men blow out No. 4 Kentucky 85-65 as Thornton shines at MSG

With the return of Aaron Bradshaw and Ques Glover, the Buckeyes played its most complete game of the season

The Ohio State Buckeyes (8-4, 1-1) pulled off the upset against the No. 4 Kentucky Wildcats (10-2, 0-0) 85-65 on Saturday evening in the CBS Sports Classic at the iconic Madison Square Garden.

The Buckeyes’ roster was a bit in flux after they were shorthanded earlier this week against Valparaiso when they were down four rotation players. As he was against Valpo, Meechie Johnson Jr. is still away from the team as he handles personal matters, and Colin White is still out with an injury. However, both Aaron Bradshaw and Ques Glover returned to OSU’s lineup tonight and each made an impact on the proceedings.

Ohio State’s starters were Bruce Thornton, John Mobley, Micah Parrish, Sean Stewart, and Devin Royal. Kentucky starters were Andrew Carr, Amari Williams, Otega Oweh, Lamont Butler, and Jaxson Robinson.

Freshman guard John Mobley Jr. got the scoring going with a deep three-pointer to give Ohio State a 3-0 lead.

At the 17:30 mark in the first quarter, former Wildcat and current Buckeye center Aaron Bradshaw checked into the game in place of starter Sean Stewart and he made the second shot of the game for the Buckeyes off an assist from Bruce Thornton. Bradshaw then made another basket to get to four quick points, and Kentucky led 8-7 at the first media timeout.

The teams continued to trade baskets for the next 10 minutes leading to a 21-20 Kentucky lead. However, from there, the Buckeyes went on an 8-0 run to take a 28-21 lead with four minutes remaining in the first half. Bradshaw made a three-pointer to give the Buckeyes a 31-23 lead.

Buckets from Evan Mahaffey and Thornton saw the Buckeyes take a 35-25 lead. The two teams traded baskets until Ohio State took a 39-30 lead heading into halftime.

Kentucky was led by Wake Forest transfer Andrew Carr in the opening half with nine points, but the team was only 8-for-22 from the field and 2-for-10 from three-point range, which is generally the Wildcat’s strength.

Ohio State was led by Bradshaw and Thornton in the first half, with nine and eight points respectively. Bradshaw was 4-for-4 from the field off the bench in his return to play.

Ohio State held Kentucky to 30 first-half points, its lowest scoring half of the season thus far.

To start the second half, The Buckeyes went on an early run, scoring six straight points on buckets from Bradshaw, Mobley, and Royal to go up 45-30. Kentucky answered with a quick 6-0 run of its own to cut the deficit back into single digits at 45-36.

The teams then traded baskets and Ohio State took a 51-39 lead into the under-16 media timeout. Out of the break, Kentucky’s Kobe Brea — who shoots 53.6% from distance on the season, good for fourth nationally — knocked down a three-pointer.

Otega Oweh made another layup for the Wildcats and made a free throw to cut the lead to six. Oweh was only 2-for-7 from the field at this point but was 11-for-11 from the charity stripe.

Six points and a bucket from Mobley saw Ohio State go on a fast 8-1 run and take a 59-47 lead. The Buckeyes led 59-51 lead at the under-12 media timeout.

It was at that point that Thornton started to take over the game as he recorded four quick points to give Ohio State a 64-51 lead with 9:31 left in regulation. Mobley made another field goal as Ohio State went on a 7-0 run and Kentucky missed seven straight field goals. Jaxson Robinson broke the drought with a three-pointer to cut the Ohio State lead to 12 points at the under-8 timeout.

Ohio State was able to force Kentucky into fouls and was in the bonus with six minutes left in the contest. John Mobley made two free throws and Ques Glover knocked down a step-back three-point shot to give Ohio State a 73-61 lead at the under-4 timeout. Out of the timeout, Bruce Thornton made two free throws to push the lead to 75-61. At this point in the game, Kentucky was two for its last 14 from the field and 5-for-20 on layups.

Ohio State took a 79-63 lead with 1:30 left after two Bruce Thornton free throws. Ohio State made its free throws down the stretch and won the game 85-65.

Bruce Thornton led the Buckeyes with 30 points on 8-for-13 from the field, while John Mobley Jr. and Aaron Bradshaw added 15 and 11 points, respectively.

Otega Oweh finished with 21 points on 13 free throws, while Andrew Carr and Jaxson Robinson added 12 and 11 points, respectively.

The CBS Sports Classic is an annual American men’s college basketball event that began in 2014. This year’s participants include Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio State, and UCLA.

Each team has played one game each year (except for 2021 due to COVID cancellations), and the four teams have completed a doubleheader.

Ohio State is 5-4 all-time in the CBS Sports Classic, with the 2021 matchup getting canceled due to COVID-19. The Buckeyes are 2-0 against Kentucky, 3-1 against UCLA, and 0-3 against North Carolina. North Carolina is 6-4 all-time, Kentucky is 5-5 all-time, and UCLA is 3-6 all-time.

Ohio State defeated No. 4 Kentucky 74-67 in 2015 at the Barclays Center, and No. 5 Ohio State defeated No. 6 Kentucky 71-65 in 2019 at T-Mobile Arena.

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What’s Next

Ohio State will return to play after the Christmas Break with its final non-conference game of the season. They will host Indiana State on Sunday, Dec. 29 at 12 noon ET. on the Big Ten Network. Indiana State is 8-4 on the season.