First Scouting Report: Can UK break through vs. CBS Sports Classic nemesis Ohio St.?
An early look ahead to the Kentucky Wildcats’ next men’s basketball game:
The opponent
No. 10 Kentucky (7-2, 0-0 SEC) will face No. 21 Ohio State (8-2, 2-0 Big Ten) on Saturday, Dec. 18, in the CBS Sports Classic at the T-Mobile Arena (capacity: 18,000) in Las Vegas.
The game will tip off around 5:15 p.m. (EST) and be telecast by CBS.
Coach Chris Holtmann’s Buckeyes defeated No. 22 Wisconsin 73-55 Saturday at Value City Arena in Columbus behind a stellar performance from star forward E.J. Liddell (28 points, nine rebounds, four assists, two blocked shots).
Series history
Kentucky leads the all-time series with OSU 11-10. Ohio State, however, has won the past two meetings.
Most recent meeting
In a CBS Sports Classic battle of top-10 teams, No. 5 Ohio State got 15 points from D.J. Carton and 10 apiece from Kyle Young and Kaleb Wesson as the Buckeyes overcame 17 points from Nate Sestina to defeat No. 6 Kentucky 71-65 on Dec. 21, 2019, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Power rankings
Through Friday’s games, the NCAA’s NET Rankings had Ohio State 25th and Kentucky 39th.
The Kenpom Rankings rated Ohio State No. 19 and UK No. 20.
Ohio State stood No. 16 in the Sagarin Ratings with Kentucky at No. 24.
Know your foe
1. Ohio State Coach Chris Holtmann is a Kentuckian, of course. In 1989-90, Holtmann was a starting guard on the Jessamine County High School team with standouts Keith Peel and Paul Bingham as well as starting forward Kevin Burton (the current Union College men’s hoops coach) that reached the quarterfinals of the Boys’ Sweet Sixteen in Freedom Hall.
Holtmann is in his fifth season as Ohio State’s head man, and he has gone 95-46 with three trips to the NCAA Tournament (there was no tourney in 2019-20).
Before OSU, Holtmann built his coaching reputation as head man at Butler, where he went 70-31 in three seasons (2014 through 2017). Under Holtmann, Butler made three appearances in the NCAA tourney, including a round of 16 trip in 2016-17.
Holtmann’s first Division I head coaching opportunity came at Gardner-Webb, where he went 11-21 (2010-11) and 12-20 (2011-12) his first two seasons. In his final year coaching the Bulldogs, however, Holmann led Gardner-Webb to a 21-13 mark (2012-13).
Overall, Holtmann is 209-131 as a college head man.
At age 50, Holtmann is more than a decade younger than Kentucky Coach John Calipari, 62. That fact helps make Holtmann a much-speculated-upon possible future UK coaching candidate once Calipari ends his career.
2. Ohio State vs. UK will feature a major contrast between the programs in early-season scheduling philosophy.
For Kentucky, the Buckeyes will be only the third major conference foe (the football Power Five plus the Big East) the Wildcats have faced so far this year, following games against Duke (Nov. 9) on a neutral court and at Notre Dame (Dec. 11).
Other than a home contest with a good Ohio University squad, the rest of UK’s schedule so far has been long on “cream puffery.”
Conversely, Ohio State will enter the UK contest as a genuinely tested team.
The Buckeyes have already played six major conference foes; faced four teams ranked in the AP Top 25; played two Big Ten Conference games; and faced two power-conference teams in actual road games.
Against teams ranked in the AP Top 25, Ohio State has beaten then-No. 1 Duke (71-66 at home), then-No. 21 Seton Hall (79-76 on a neutral court) and No. 22 Wisconsin (73-55 at home) while losing to then-No. 23 Florida (71-68 on a neutral court, albeit in the Sunshine State).
OSU also has a power-conference win at Penn State (76-64) and loss at Xavier (71-65).
3. Since the four-team CBS Sports Classic began in 2014-15, Ohio State has been Kentucky’s nemesis. The Wildcats are 0-2 vs. the Buckeyes in the event.
Overall, North Carolina (5-2) has fared best in the CBS Sports Classic, followed by Ohio State (4-3), Kentucky (3-4) and UCLA (2-5).
This story was originally published December 11, 2021 at 7:17 PM.
