How Kentucky men’s basketball matches up against Ohio State — with a game prediction
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Preview: No. 4 Kentucky vs. Ohio State
Click below to read more of the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com’s preview coverage ahead of Saturday’s Kentucky-Ohio State game at the CBS Sports Classic in New York.
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How the No. 4 Kentucky Wildcats (10-1) and the Ohio State Buckeyes (7-4) match up at each position for Saturday’s men’s college basketball game in the CBS Sports Classic — with a game prediction:
Small forward
▪ Kentucky’s Jaxson Robinson (12.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 21 assists vs. 12 turnovers) is in a shooting funk. The 6-foot-6, 192-pound super-senior is a combined 15-of-40 on field goal attempts over UK’s past three games. A product of Ada, Oklahoma, Robinson turned in a strong all-around effort in the Wildcats’ 93-85 win over intrastate rival Louisville last Saturday, going for 12 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals.
▪ Ohio State’s Micah Parrish (10.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 21 assists vs. 24 turnovers; team-high 13 steals) will be a familiar face to one UK player. A 6-6, 205-pound super-senior, Parrish played the two seasons prior to this with Kentucky point guard Lamont Butler at San Diego State. In OSU’s 95-73 win over Valparaiso on Tuesday night, Parrish, a Detroit product, went for 14 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot.
Advantage: Kentucky.
Power forward
▪ Kentucky super-senior Andrew Carr (10.9 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 30 assists vs. nine turnovers) just missed a double-double in the win over Louisville, finishing with 10 points and nine rebounds. The 6-11, 235-pound Carr also chipped in four assists, two steals and a blocked shot vs. the Cardinals. A product of West Chester, Pennsylvania, Carr has now scored in double figures in five of UK’s past six games.
▪ As a sophomore, Ohio State’s Devin Royal (team-high 15.6 ppg, team-high 7.9 rpg, 61.1% FGs) is an emerging star. The 6-6, 225-pound product of Pickerington, Ohio, played the best game of his college career in the victory over Valparaiso, scoring 31 points on 11-of-16 shooting and grabbing 15 rebounds. Royal has now scored in double figures in eight straight games.
Advantage: Ohio State.
Center
▪ Kentucky super-senior Amari Williams (10.2 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 26 assists vs. 24 turnovers, 56.9% FGs) was limited to 16 minutes of playing time vs. Louisville due to some apparent defensive lapses. When on the floor, the 7-foot, 262-pound native of Nottingham, England, put up positive numbers — six points, eight rebounds, four assists. A transfer from Drexel, Williams has six double-figure scoring games and five double-digit rebounding games this season.
▪ A transfer from Duke, sophomore Sean Stewart (5.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg, six assists vs. 15 turnovers; team-high 14 blocked shots) has yet to establish a comfort level offensively. In addition to his negative assists/turnovers ratio, the 6-9, 220-pound product of Windermere, Florida, is making only 48 percent of his shot attempts and 56.3 percent of his free throws. In No. 2 Auburn’s 91-53 decimation of Ohio State last Saturday, Stewart had eight points and six rebounds but made only 3 of 11 shots.
Advantage: Kentucky.
Shooting guard
▪ Kentucky junior Otega Oweh (team-high 15.7 ppg, 4 rpg, 20 assists vs. eight turnovers; team-high 15 steals) was the player who “closed out” the win over Louisville. With UK up 79-74, Oweh, a 6-4, 215-pound product of Newark, New Jersey, scored eight points between the 1:58 and 43.6 seconds marks to secure victory for the Wildcats. A transfer from Oklahoma, Oweh finished with 17 points vs. U of L — and has scored in double figures in all 11 games this season.
▪ Ohio State freshman John Mobley Jr. (12.1 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 17 assists, 10 turnovers) has seized a prominent role in coach Jake Diebler’s playing rotation with blistering 3-point shooting. The 6-1, 175-pound product of Reynoldsburg, Ohio, has connected on 30 of his 56 treys, a robust 53.6 percent. Mobley Jr. made his first college start Tuesday night against Valparaiso and scored nine points and doled out five assists.
Advantage: Kentucky.
Point guard
▪ Kentucky super-senior Lamont Butler (15.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 37 assists vs. 13 turnovers) had the best game of his college career in UK’s win over U of L. A 6-2, 208-pound product of Moreno Valley, California, Butler returned after missing Kentucky’s prior two games with an ankle injury and hit all 10 of his shots from the field, all six of his 3-point attempts, and scored a career high 33 points in the win over the Cardinals. With his offensive breakout vs. U of L, Butler has raised his season field goal percentage to 60.8 and his 3-point percentage to 48.1.
▪ Ohio State’s Bruce Thornton (14.8 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 58 assists vs. 14 turnovers) is one of the best point guards in the Big Ten. In addition to his 4.1-to-1 assists-to-turnovers ratio, Thornton is also making 53 percent of his field goal attempts and 48 percent of his 3-point tries. In the blowout loss to Auburn, however, Thornton had a nightmare, scoring only three points and dishing out but one assist while missing seven of eight shots.
Advantage: Even.
Bench
▪ Kentucky super-senior wing Koby Brea (12.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 13 assists, four turnovers, 53.1% treys) hit 20 of 27 3-pointers in UK’s first five games. Over the subsequent six games, the 6-7, 215-pound product of Washington Heights, New York, is 14-of-37 on treys. ... Sophomore center Brandon Garrison (5.9 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 25 assists vs. 13 turnovers, 48.1% FGs) had five points, four rebounds, four assists and three turnovers in the win over Louisville. ... Senior forward Ansley Almonor (5.5 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 47.6% FGs, 35.7% treys) has made only 3 of 11 field goal attempts over UK’s past four games. ... With super-senior point guard Kerr Kriisa (4.4 ppg, 34 assists vs. nine turnovers) sidelined by injury, freshmen guards Collin Chandler (2.2 ppg, 41.2% FGs) and Travis Perry (0.9 ppg, 16.7% FGs) have a chance to carve out more meaningful roles in Mark Pope’s playing rotation.
▪ For Ohio State, the status for Saturday’s game of a former Kentucky player and of an ex-Wildcats nemesis is unclear. Former Cat Aaron Bradshaw (7.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 37.9% FGS) did not play Tuesday night against Valparaiso. The Columbus Dispatch reported that Bradshaw, a 7-1, 215-pound sophomore, is now “technically available to play” after he was not allowed “to participate in team activities for nearly a month” due to a university investigation into an off-the-court incident. ... While playing for South Carolina, guard Meechie Johnson averaged 20 points, four rebounds and five assists while leading the Gamecocks to wins over Kentucky in 2022-23 and 2023-24. A re-transfer who began his career at Ohio State, then returned to the Buckeyes from South Carolina, Johnson (9.1 ppg, 27 assists, 23 turnovers, 36.7% treys) also sat out the Valpo contest. Afterward, OSU coach Jake Diebler said Johnson was “dealing with some personal matters.” ... Junior Evan Mahaffey (5.4 ppg, 4 rpg, 72.2% FGs), a 6-6, 200-pound Cincinnati product, has made 26 of 36 field goal tries this year.
Advantage: Kentucky.
Trends and history
▪ Kentucky leads the all-time series with Ohio State 11-10.
▪ Ohio State is 2-0 vs. Kentucky in the CBS Sports Classic, the annual one day doubleheader in which Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio State and UCLA participate.
▪ Kentucky is 5-5 all-time in the CBS Sports Classic, while OSU is 5-4 (Ohio State and UCLA did not play in the 2021-22 event due to COVID-19 protocols).
▪ Having beaten Duke 77-72 in this season’s Champions Classic, Kentucky is trying to earn wins in the same year in both that event and the CBS Sports Classic for the first time since 2016-17 — when the Wildcats beat Michigan State 69-48 in the Champions Classic and North Carolina 103-100 in the CBS Sports Classic.
▪ Both coaches, UK’s Mark Pope and OSU’s Jake Diebler, are in their first full seasons as the head men at their respective schools.
Advantage: Even
Prediction
Kentucky 83, Ohio State 76.
This story was originally published December 19, 2024 at 6:30 AM.
