NEW YORK -- Fourth-ranked Kentucky had no answers on either end of the floor Saturday night against Ohio State, suffering a stunning 85-65 blowout loss to the unranked Buckeyes in the CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden.
Bruce Thornton scored a game-high 30 points for Ohio State (8-4) to highlight an uncharacteristic 57% shooting night for the Buckeyes.
The winners also got 15 points from John Mobley Jr. and 11 from former UK big man Aaron Bradshaw.
Meanwhile, Ohio State also held Kentucky (10-2) to its worst offensive showing of the season, a 29.8% shooting effort from the field and a 4-for-22 night from beyond the arc.
"A ton of credit to Ohio State. They beat us in pretty much every facet of the game," UK head coach Mark Pope said.
"Thornton was just too good for us today. Everything we tried, he had an answer today."
Kentucky led 21-20 midway through the first half, but trailed for the final 31 minutes of play. Each time the Cats threatened, Ohio State had an answer.
UK, which entered the matchup leading the nation in scoring at 91.3 points per game, managed only three buckets between the 9:00 mark of the first half and the 16:15 mark of the second half.
Junior guard Otega Oweh led Kentucky with a season-high 21 points, including a 13-of-13 night at the free throw line. He has scored in double-figures in each game this season.
Andrew Carr followed with 13 points for UK, while Jaxson Robinson added 10.
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In this "Rapid Recap" feature, we touch on some quick-hitters from the UK loss...
KEY MOMENT:
After falling behind by 15 early in the second half, Kentucky clawed its way back within 51-45 with 14:54 remaining and had the overwhelmingly pro-blue crowd at Madison Square Garden trying to push the Cats back into the lead. But a strategically placed timeout by OSU head coach Jake Diebler seemed to stem the momentum as the Buckeyes scored the next five to reclaim their double-digit lead. The closest UK could get the rest of the way was eight.
GAME BALL:
Bruce Thornton, Ohio State -- The Buckeyes' dynamic junior guard had his way with just about any defender UK attempted to use on him, going 8-of-13 from the field and 13-of-14 at the line en route to a game-high 30-point effort. He also added four rebounds and three assists to his line.
BY THE NUMBERS:
1st - Player, Aaron Bradshaw, to transfer from Kentucky and win a game against Kentucky with his new team since Marvin Stone in 2002.
2nd - Time in the shot clock era that Kentucky has played a game in which it shot worse than 30% from the field while the opponent shot better than 56% from the field. The only other time was Feb. 5, 1991, in a 107-88 loss at LSU.
5-6 - Kentucky's record in the CBS Sports Classic, including an 0-3 mark against Ohio State.
11-11 - The Buckeyes evened the all-time series record with the Wildcats.
17 - The fewest made field goals in a game by UK since March 2, 2019, against Tennessee. The Cats made just 14 against the Vols on that day.
35-32 - Ohio State's advantage in the rebound column. It was just the second time this season that the Cats have been outrebounded. They entered the game ranked fourth nationally on the glass.
QUOTABLE:
"We just couldn't find the juice, the fight." -- UK head coach Mark Pope
UP NEXT:
Kentucky returns to action on Dec. 31 in a New Year's Eve afternoon clash with Brown. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET at Rupp Arena with the game broadcast on ESPNU.
