Kentucky was fourth in the nation but was upset by Ohio State, 85-65, on December 21 in New York City. The game took place in Madison Square Garden in the CBS Sports Classic. This was an amazing win for Ohio State as Kentucky was not only ranked high, but Kentucky is a college basketball blueblood. The Buckeyes got 30 points from Bruce Thornton to lead all scorers. Thornton is probably the best basketball player on the Ohio State team. John Mobley and Aaron Bradshaw also scored double digits for the Buckeyes in their victory over Kentucky.
The 30 points Thornton had were his career high. Otega Oweh scored 21 points for Kentucky in the loss. Kentucky is now 10-2 and Ohio State is now 8-4. Ohio State is inconsistent and can beat any team on any day or lose to any team on any day. Nevertheless, this is a signature win, and the Buckeyes will look to build on it.
Kentucky Upset By Ohio State
The upset of Kentucky by Ohio State was the biggest win Ohio State basketball had since they upset No. 2 Purdue on the road last season in Head Coach Jon Diebler’s first game on the job. That Purdue team had Zach Edey the 7-foot-four monster.
The Buckeyes were blown out 91-57 by No. 2 Auburn on Dec. 14 in Atlanta, Georgia. That looked ugly and was Ohio State’s fourth loss of the season. They missed out on a golden opportunity to beat a highly ranked opponent. They fared much better in their second game against a top-five team in a week. Saturday’s game was also held at a neutral site.
Bruce Thornton only shot 1-of-7 against Auburn. Facing Kentucky, he made 8-of-13 shots, including a wild off-balance jumper in the lane as the shot clock expired. That shot put the Buckeyes up 64-51. He was 13 of 14 on free throws, which is a key for him as he consistently gets fouled.
Key Statistics From the gAME
Apart from the scoring, there are other important statics in basketball. Amari Williams led Kentucky in rebounds with 8. Williams is from Nottingham, England. He is part of an English invasion in college basketball, though the country is better known for soccer. Brandon Garrison, a bench player for Kentucky, had 5 rebounds and Devin Royal led Ohio State with 6 rebounds.
A second key statistic is turnovers. Turnovers end possession for the offensive team and cost a team possessions, so they are devastating. Though this game was pretty clean, Kentucky had 10 turnovers and Ohio State had only 7. This is the result of good guard play, which was evident in this game.
Kentucky-Ohio State Game Notes
Bruce Thornton is probably the best basketball player on the Ohio State basketball team. He scored a game and career-high 30 points. Ohio State shot a little bit more than 56% from the field and Kentucky shot only 29.8%. The Buckeyes finished the game with its largest lead of the game at 20 points. This game was also well attended as 19,812 fans saw the game at Madison Square Garden.
In Jake Diebler We Trust
Jake Diebler is the head basketball coach at Ohio State. Diebler is only 38 years old and was a bit of a surprise hire. He took over for Chris Holtman, who was fired after a succession of double-digit losses. The early returns are that he will win some marquee games (Purdue, Kentucky) and lose some clunkers to highly ranked opponents (Auburn), and important games to near competitors who Ohio State must beat (Illinois).
Conclusion
College basketball games in December do not mean that much if you lose, however, the college basketball tournament selection committee will note this win as a signature win for Ohio State. Ohio State hosts Indiana State next and then begins its Big Ten Conference schedule.
