Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
No. 4 Kentucky falls to Ohio State
TOP 25/SEC MEN
OHIO ST. 74, NO. 4 KENTUCKY 67
NEW YORK — The lead kept shrinking. It probably seemed like the clock wasn’t moving. Ohio State was playing No. 4 Kentucky at a neutral site but it sure didn’t sound that way.
The Buckeyes, who led by 16 points with 11:26 to play, appeared destined to be another opponent unable to hold a lead against the talented and deep Wildcats. Not these Buckeyes. Ohio State, with all eight of its players scoring between six and 14 points, held off the furious rally — Kentucky got within three points — for a 74-67 victory Saturday in the CBS Sports Classic at Barclays Center.
“Just poise under pressure,” Ohio State’s Marc Loving said. “JaQuan [Lyle] and A.J. [Harris] really ran the show and we have to follow those guys. They handled the pressure the majority of the time.
“Being an underdog, we had nothing to lose. We had a chip on our shoulder from the beginning and we felt very, very prepared for this game and we executed our system.”
The Buckeyes (6-5) executed enough early to take a 37-25 halftime lead. The crowd of 16,311 was almost all in blue and they got very vocal as the rally went on.
“Just playing a team the caliber of Kentucky, everybody thinks you’re going to lose the game except for the guys in the locker room,” Loving said. “So just having that bond together and that tight knit group, made us be able to pull this victory out.
“It’s an awesome feeling to know that we played as hard as we possibly could and came out with the result
that we wanted.”
Freshman Jamal Murray had a season-high 33 points for the Wildcats (9-2). He finished 7 of 9 from three-point range, all in the second half.
A three-pointer by Alex Poythress brought Kentucky within 63-60 with 4 minutes to play.
The Buckeyes, who had missed three of their last five free throws, suddenly started making them. Kam Williams made two and so did Daniel Giddens and the lead was back to 67-60 with 2:54 left.
Murray, with a three-pointer and a basket, got Kentucky within four points twice but Jae’Sean Tate scored down low and there were three more free throws after Kentucky misses and Ohio State had the upset.
“We had two days to prepare for this and it was a little bit of a different game plan,”
Ohio State Coach Thad Matta said. “These guys did a tremendous job of understanding in a short period of time of what we were going to attempt to do. The fact that Murray got rolling today, that was one of the best performances I’ve seen in a short period of time. But the defense was definitely the key for us. We did not let our offense affect our defense when we had some tough stretches and that was big.”
Keita Bates-Diop had 14 points for Ohio State, Loving added 14, Lyle 11 and Trevor Thompson 10.
Marcus Lee had 12 points and nine rebounds for the Wildcats.
“We still have to learn how to win. We didn’t start the game. They were the aggressor and they came after us,” Kentucky Coach John Calipari said. “These guys have just played basketball in the past. Now we got to teach them how to win.
“We fought in the second half and did some good things but we’re a ways away. … Guys have beer muscles against us and they start making plays they don’t make all year. It’s just disappointing. I want them to be farther along than they are, but we’re where we are right now.”
Up next, Ohio State hosts Mercer on Tuesday and Kentucky hosts No. 19 Louisville the day after Christmas.
In other games involving Top 25 teams Saturday, Denzel Valentine scored 17 points and No. 1 Michigan State beat Northeastern 78-58 to improve to 12-0 this season. … Perry Ellis had 18 points and nine rebounds while leading four players in double-figures scoring, and second-ranked Kansas buried Montana with a big second-half run for an 88-46 victory. … Buddy Hield scored a career-high 33 points to help No. 3 Oklahoma pull away from Creighton for an 87-74 victory. … Kyle Kuzma scored 21 points to lead Utah to a 77-75 overtime victory over No. 7 Duke in the Ameritas Insurance Classic. … Anthony Gill scored 22 points and London Perrantes scored 15 of his 19 in the second half and No. 8 Virginia held off No. 12 Villanova 86-75 for its eighth consecutive victory. … Jalen Reynolds had a season-high 18 points as Xavier’s front line dominated, and the 10th-ranked Musketeers got their best start in school history by beating Auburn 85-61. … Brice Johnson scored 27 points, the second consecutive game he set his career high, and No. 11 North Carolina beat No. 22 UCLA 89-76 in the CBS Sports Classic at Barclays Center. … Ja’Quan Newton scored a career-high 20 points off the bench, Sheldon McClellan added 14 and No. 15 Miami returned from an 11-day break to beat College of Charleston 8563. … Quentin Snider scored 16 points and No. 19 Louisville beat Western Kentucky 78-56. … Tyler Cavanaugh scored 18 points and No. 21 George Washington finished its home nonconference schedule unbeaten with an 87-74 victory over Saint Peter’s. … Troy Caupain and Farad Cobb had 15 points apiece, leading No. 23 Cincinnati to a 69-63 victory over VCU on Saturday. Jalen Jones and Danuel House scored 17 points apiece, and No. 24 Texas A&M beat No. 16 Baylor 80-61.