College basketball final: Kentucky 87, North Carolina 83
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Game day: No. 14 Kentucky 87, No. 9 North Carolina 83
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and North Carolina in the CBS Sports Classic at State Farm Arena in Atlanta
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In a battle between two of college basketball’s most storied programs, Kentucky plays North Carolina in the CBS Sports Classic on Saturday. CBS has the 5:30 p.m. television coverage from State Farm Arena.
Coached by John Calipari, Kentucky is 7-2 with losses to Kansas and UNC Wilmington. Coached by Hubert Davis, North Carolina is 7-2 with losses to Villanova and UConn. North Carolina is ranked No. 9 in the latest AP Top 25. Kentucky is ranked 14th.
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Final: Kentucky 87, North Carolina 83
Heels had a chance to tie it but Elliot Cadeau pass hit Cormac Ryan in the back. Ryan wasn’t looking for the pass. By the time UNC recovered, it was an over-and-back violation.
Kentucky 86-83 with 11.9 left
Rob Dillingham hit one of two free throws to give UK an 86-83 lead. Calipari calls time to set up his defense.
Kentucky 83-81 with 49.3 left
RJ Davis has 27 points for North Carolina. Kentucky has the ball out of bounds.
Kentucky 77-72 with 3:44 left
North Carolina took a 72-71 lead and Kentucky responded with six straight points.
Kentucky 67-62 with 7:56 left
Can the Cats execute well enough down the stretch to win this high-intensity game? UK shooting 37.9%. North Carolina shooting 45.8% for the game, but 52.9 this half.
Kentucky 60-51 with 11:41 left
North Carolina’s Armando Bacot has three points and four rebounds in 21 minutes. D.J. Wagner and Justin Edwards lead the Cats with six rebounds each. UK has a 32-28 edge on the boards.
Kentucky 52-43 with 15:43 left
Good news for UK is Cats have outscored UNC 12-5 to start second half. Bad news is Aaron Bradshaw picked up his third and fourth fouls.
Halftime: Kentucky 40, North Carolina 38
Wild first half. Kentucky led by as many as 11 points but Carolina went on an 8-0 run to trail just 40-38 at the break. UK shot 34.1% the first half. North Carolina shot 41.9. Kentucky was outscored 11-3 after Calipari’s technical foul at the 4:04 mark.
John Calipari gets technical with 4:04 left in half
Kentucky coach John Calipari got hit with a technical foul at the 4:04 mark of the first half with his team up by 10 points. Two free throws by North Carolina cut it to 37-29.
Kentucky 23, North Carolina 13 with 10:24 left in first half
Some fireworks as Rob Dillingham did not like a flagrant foul by North Carolina’s Paxson Wojcik. Then Hubert Davis did not like that John Calipari was allowed to come out on the floor. It’s now UK 23-13 with 10:24 left in first half. Cats are 9-of-17 from the floor for 52.9%.
Kentucky takes early 9-4 lead
Kentucky 9, North Carolina 4 at the 15:17 1H TV time. Aaron Bradshaw picking up where left off last week in win over Penn. UK’s 7-foot-1 freshman with 5 early points — a dunk and a 3-pointer. Bradshaw making his first start of the season. North Carolina committed three turnovers in the Heels’ first four possessions.
Officials for Kentucky-North Carolina are Kelly Pfeifer, Courtney Green, Patrick Evans.
Ohio State defeats UCLA in first game
Despite making just 1 of 15 3-point attempts, Ohio State defeated UCLA 67-60 in the first game of the CBS Sports Classic. Roddy Gayle led the Buckeyes with 19 points. UCLA shot just 1-of-9 shooting from 3-point range. The Bruins fell to 5-4. Ohio State improved to 9-2.
This story was originally published December 16, 2023 at 4:00 PM.
