Replay: Bruce Thornton, Ohio State hand No. 4 Kentucky blowout loss in New York

Posted by Admin December 21, 2024 Basketball

Bruce Thornton scored a career-high 30 points, Ohio State reclaimed the lead with 8:11 left in the first half and never trailed again in an 85-65 win against No. 4 Kentucky at Madison Square Garden in the CBS Sports Classic.

The Buckeyes (8-4) earned their most impressive win of the season while handing the Wildcats (10-2) only their second loss of the year.

Ohio State regained the services of sophomore center Aaron Bradshaw and sixth-year guard Ques Glover, and both helped buoy the Buckeyes past Kentucky. Bradshaw had 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting while Glover added 9 on 4-of-6 shooting, both off the bench.

Thornton scored all but eight of his points during the second half. The 65 points are a season low for Kentucky, which falls to 0-3 against the Buckeyes in this event.

The Buckeyes are now off until hosting Indiana State on Dec. 29.

Lamont Butler, who had 33 points in Kentucky’s last game, fouled out with 4 points against the Buckeyes with 1:43 remaining.

Follow along with all the action at our Dispatch live game blog.

Bruce Thornton drew a foul to send the game into the under-4 timeout with Ohio State ahead 72-61 and 3:30 to play.

Thornton has 20 points and Kentucky has not made a field goal in the last 3:31.

Ohio State wing Micah Parrish left the game with 14:54 to play with what the broadcast described as a right ankle injury and has not returned. He was seen riding a bike near the team bench and officially listed as questionable for the rest of the game.

Ohio State leads 70-59 with 4:28 to play.

With 7:46 to play, the Buckeyes lead the Wildcats 66-54. Bruce Thornton is up to 20 points, 12 of them in the second half, as Ohio State has led for 23:48.

Freshman John Mobley Jr. has 13 for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State’s third-year captain drove, drew a foul on Otega Oweh and converted the free throw to give him 16 points and put the Buckeyes ahead 59-47.

Ohio State leads 59-51 with 11:45 to play. Oweh has three fouls and leads all scorers with 19 points thanks to a 13-for-13 free-throw effort.

The Wildcats are on a 6-0 run thanks to a Koby Brea 3-pointer and a three-point play from Otega Oweh, cutting Ohio State’s lead to 51-45 with 14:20 to play.

Kentucky is 6 for 6 from the line during the second half.

The Buckeyes lead the Wildcats 51-39 with 15:37 to play but are starting to run out of post players.

Starting center Sean Stewart picked up two fouls in the first 3:45 of the half, sending him to the bench with four fouls and 16:15 to play. Aaron Bradshaw also has three fouls, and Kentucky has kept it close by getting to the line.

The Wildcats are 17 for 21 (81.0%) from the free-throw line but only 10 for 32 (31.3%) from the floor.

Bruce Thornton drove, drew a foul and hit both free throws with 17.7 seconds left to push Ohio State ahead 39-30 on Kentucky. The Wildcats got the final shot of the half, but Thornton forced Jaxson Robinson into an airballed 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Buckeyes a nine-point lead.

It’s been a decidedly different story than last weekend’s game against No. 2 Auburn in Atlanta. Ohio State has led for 11:34 and since it went ahead 22-21 on a baseline jumper by Aaron Bradshaw.

The Buckeyes lead despite a scoreless first half from Devin Royal, who had a career-high 31 points Tuesday against Valparaiso. Bradshaw, in his return to the lineup, has 9 points while Thornton has 8 points and three assists.

The Buckeyes held the Wildcats to 34.8% shooting in the first half.

Ohio State’s defense has held Kentucky scoreless for 4:34 and, after a John Mobley Jr. drive-and-dish to Evan Mahaffey, now leads the Wildcats 28-21 with 4:26 remaining.

Kentucky called timeout to try and stop the bleeding after Mahaffey’s basket followed a Ques Glover drive and finish that saw him blow past his defender, get to the right block and finish with his left hand. Glover has 11 points in three games this year but already has 4.

Seven different Buckeyes have at least one of Ohio State’s 13 field goals.

Ohio State led for only 1:48 in a loss at Texas A&M, never led in a loss at Maryland and led for 50 seconds in a loss to Auburn in Atlanta.

With 7:32 left in the first half, Ohio State leads No. 4 Kentucky 22-21. The Buckeyes have led for 3:57 already.

At the midpoint of the first half, starting power forward Devin Royal and starting center Sean Stewart have both gone to the bench with two fouls. Stewart has five points while Royal has not scored.

The road hasn’t been kind to Ohio State this season, aside from the season-opening game against Texas in Las Vegas. After lopsided losses at Texas A&M, at Maryland and against Auburn in Atlanta, the Buckeyes have gotten off to a much better start.

Kentucky is headed to the line after the timeout, but the Buckeyes and Wildcats are tied at 16 with 11:36 left in the first half. Ohio State is 7 for 12 (58.3%) from the floor and has assisted on five of those made field goals.

Ohio State’s sixth-year transfer guard hasn’t played since the first half of a Nov. 15 loss at Texas A&M due to an ankle injury, but he is back in action early in the first half for the Buckeyes.

Freshman guard John Mobley Jr., making his second career start, opened the scoring with a 3-pointer from the final ‘C’ in the CBS Sports Classic logo at midcourt inside Madison Square Garden.

Sophomore center Aaron Bradshaw was the first substitution of the game for the Buckeyes, checking in at the 17:46 mark for his first minutes since the Nov. 19 game against Evansville. He has four quick points as Ohio State trails Kentucky 8-7 at the first media timeout.

“His size and versatility can be really helpful for us on both sides of the ball,” coach Jake Diebler said later on the CBS broadcast.

Here are the starting lineups for today’s game.

Ohio State: Bruce Thornton, John Mobley Jr., Micah Parrish, Devin Royal, Sean Stewart

Kentucky: Otega Oweh, Lamont Butler, Jaxson Robinson, Andrew Carr, Amari Williams

Aaron Bradshaw, Ques Glover upgraded to questionable for Kentucky game

Ohio State’s injury report actually had some good news for the Buckeyes for a change. Sophomore center Aaron Bradshaw and sixth-year guard Ques Glover have both been upgraded from “out” to “questionable” as the Buckeyes get ready to play Kentucky.

Bradshaw has not played since a Nov. 19 home game against Campbell. Glover has not played since the first half of a Nov. 15 game at Texas A&M. The center has averaged 7.8 points and 4.8 rebounds and started the first four games while Glover has scored 11 points with two assists, two rebounds and four turnovers in 37:10.

Ohio State Buckeyes news

Ohio State vs Kentucky betting odds

Odds courtesy of BetMGM as of Friday, Dec. 20

ODDS: Kentucky -7.5

O/U: 160.5

Moneyline: Ohio State (+260) | Kentucky (-350)

Ohio State vs Kentucky history

Series record: Kentucky leads, 11-10
Ohio State’s last win: Dec. 21, 2019 (71-65)
Kentucky’s last win: March 25, 2011 (62-60, NCAA Tournament Sweet 16)

Ohio State Buckeyes 2024-25 schedule, record

Here’s a look at the Buckeyes’ schedule, along with start times, television, and radio information of upcoming games:

Monday, Nov. 4: Ohio State 80, Texas 72 (takeaways)
Monday, Nov. 11: Ohio State 81, Youngstown State 47 (takeaways)
Friday, Nov. 15: Texas A&M 78, Ohio State 64 (takeaways)
Tuesday, Nov. 19: Ohio State 80, Evansville 30 (takeaways)
Friday, Nov. 22: Ohio State 104, Campbell 60 (takeaways)
Monday, Nov. 25: Ohio State 102, Green Bay 69 (takeaways)
Friday, Nov. 29: Pitt 91, Ohio State 90 (OT) (takeaways)
NOVEMBER RECORD: 5-2
Wednesday, Dec. 4: Maryland 83, Ohio State 59 (takeaways)
Saturday, Dec. 7: Ohio State 80, Rutgers 66 (takeaways)
Saturday, Dec. 14: No. 2 Auburn 91, Ohio State 53 (takeaways)
Tuesday, Dec. 17: Ohio State 95, Valparaiso 73 (takeaways)
Saturday, Dec. 21: Ohio State vs. Kentucky in New York City | 5:30 p.m. | CBS | 1460 AM
Sunday, Dec. 29: Ohio State vs. Indiana State | noon | BTN | 97.1 FM
DECEMBER RECORD: 2-2