The Kentucky Wildcats are off to the Big Apple in hopes of snagging an early Christmas present as they take on the Ohio State Buckeyes in the CBS Sports Classic. Game time is set for approximately 5:30 PM ET this Saturday at Madison Square Garden on CBS, right after the North Carolina Tar Heels vs. UCLA Bruins matchup.

The Buckeyes are led by first-year head coach Jake Diebler, a former player who was promoted after Chris Holtmann was fired last season. The Buckeyes ended the season 8-3 under Diebler after a 14-11 start with Holtmann.

Now in his first full season, the Buckeyes have arguably the most inconsistent team in the country. In fact, according to TeamRankings, the Buckeyes are the fifth most inconsistent team in the country (Kentucky is actually 173rd, likely due to some of their sporadic performances vs. mid-majors).

With wins over Texas and Rutgers, Ohio State has the talent to win. With three of their four losses coming by 14 or more points, including a 38-point loss to Auburn, they could lose big.

Let’s take a look at the matchup.

3-Point Shooting

Kentucky just played one of the least efficient 3-point shooting teams in Louisville but will be tested with the opposite with Ohio State as the Buckeyes shoot nearly 41% from deep, ranked 10th nationally, on just 22 attempts per game.

Their three-point attack is led by their quartet of guards: John Mobley, Meechie Johnson, Brian Thornton, and Micah Parrish. Together, they account for 80% of the team’s three-point attempts.

However, on Tuesday, it was announced that Johnson would be taking a leave of absence, which certainly hurts them. He’s also given Kentucky plenty of trouble, scoring 14 points in last year’s win over the Wildcats in Columbia. He scored 26 in the win at Kentucky during the 2022-23 season.

The Wildcats seemed to finally get out of their shooting slump against Louisville, shooting over 40% from deep for the first time since the Jackson State game on November 22nd.

However, that included a heroic 6/6 effort from Lamont Butler. Can the team sustain that level of shooting going forward?

Crash Offensive Glass

Ohio State has size, but despite that, they have been outrebounded in four of their six games against Power Six opponents. This includes all four of their losses.

Kentucky averages eight rebounds more per game than the Buckeyes, but it’s the offensive glass where Kentucky could take advantage of most. More often than not, extra possessions with this Kentucky offense lead to more points.

We’ve seen plenty of games where Kentucky was beaten badly on the boards in the first half, only to patch things up out of the halftime break. Let’s see if Kentucky can put together a full game of rebounding well vs. a Power Six team.

Free Throws

As many shooters as there are on this Kentucky team, they have been very inconsistent from the free-throw line, especially of late. Shooting a mediocre 72.3% on the season, the Wildcats have shot below 65% in three of four games in December, the exception being the Gonzaga game.

Ohio State plays a physical brand of defense and commits more than 18 fouls per game. The Wildcats need to shoot 75% from the line. The poor free-throw shooting is starting to become a pattern, but it’s something you know Mark Pope and Co. are putting a lot of effort into fixing it.

Hopefully, the Wildcats will respond with a much better outing in a neutral-court arena that’s similar to what they’ll see in March Madness.

Opposing Players to Watch

F Devin Royal 6-6. 220 lbs

• 15.6 PPG
• 7.9 RPG
• 61.1% FG

G Bruce Thornton 6-2, 215 lbs

• 14.8 PPG
• 5.1 APG
• 48.7% 3P

G John Mobley Jr. 6-1, 175 lbs

• 12.1 PPG
• 53.6% 3P
• 71% of made shots have been 3P.

Kentucky Basketball (10-1) vs. Ohio State Buckeyes (7-4)

Time: Approximately 5:30 PM ET on December 21st, 2024
Location: Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York
TV Channel: CBS
Online Stream: CBS Sports and the CBS Sports app
Radio: Tom Leach and Jack Givens will have the call on the UK Sports Radio Network.
Replay: WatchESPN and ESPN network of channels (check local listings).
Rosters: UK | OSU
Stats to Know: UK | OSU
KenPom: UK | OSU
Team Sheet: UK | OSU

Odds: FanDuel Sportsbook has Kentucky favored by 6.5 points with an over/under of 160.5 points. EvanMiya is the most confident in Kentucky at 82% percent in favor of the Wildcats to take down the Buckeyes. KenPom is just at 64%. Bart Torvik (72%) and ESPN (65.8%) fall in between.

Predictions: EvanMiya projects an 84-73 win. Haslametrics (81-75) and Bart Torvik (83-77) say a six-point victory. KenPom (82-78) projects the lowest margin of victory at just four points. I think the Cats will get the win in New York, so I’m predicting an 86-73 victory, Kentucky!

How do you see this one going? Send us your Kentucky vs. Ohio State score predictions in the comments!

And Go CATS!!

On Wednesday during his pre-Ohio State press conference, Mark Pope provided a brief update on the injury status of Kerr Kriisa. Kriisa went down with a jones fracture against Gonzaga and underwent surgery.

Discussing injury updates, moving onto Kerr Kriisa. Kriisa had surgery almost immediately after the Cats returned home from their loss at Clemson. In an interview last week, Pope predicted Kriisa would miss the next 6 weeks of basketball, even though he didn’t seem confident in that prediction.

In yesterday’s press conference, Pope informed BBN that Kerr recently started getting back in the weight room, “doing strength and conditioning”. Pope went on to joke that the UK coaching staff’s “goal is to make the weight room so unpleasant that he’s wanting to get back on the court” as soon as he can.

Whether intentionally or not, it does seem like Pope is giving BBN reason to believe Kerr will return before the 6-week initial prediction is over. But in the end, Pope could only say that they hope Kerr “returns sooner rather than later” but at the end of the day, “there are some things that are out of our control.”

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Kentucky is every team’s Super Bowl. When the Wildcats come to town, you can bet it’s going to be a themed night. And looking at Kentucky’s remaining schedule, that statement rings true once again. It feels like every game will be a championship-level showdown.

ESPN has labeled Kentucky with the honor of having the “toughest remaining schedule” in college basketball. Having already faced tough teams like Duke, Gonzaga, Clemson, and bitter rival Louisville, the Wildcats are already battle-tested—and it’s only December.

Kentucky’s non-conference slate wraps up this month with games against Ohio State and Brown. After that, they enter the heart of their schedule: a revamped SEC. The Southeastern Conference is now the top dog in college basketball. They are expected to send a record number of teams to the NCAA tournament this year. Early predictions even suggest the SEC could claim all four No. 1 seeds in March, with Tennessee, Auburn, Alabama, and Kentucky each in the mix. However, that outcome is unlikely, as these teams will spend the next three months battling it out, night after night.

Kentucky has 20 games left on its schedule, and 15 of them are currently considered Quad 1 matchups—games against top-tier opponents. With nine teams ranked in the top 25, including two games against No. 1 Tennessee, and matchups against Alabama, Auburn, Texas A&M, Florida, and a scorned John Calipari returning to Rupp Arena, it’s no surprise Kentucky’s schedule is considered the toughest in the country.

Kentucky head coach Mark Pope recently commented on the strength of the SEC, calling it “a bloodbath.” But despite the brutal competition, he understands the value of these challenges. “It’s so awesome; this league is just insanity right now,” he said. “As an athlete and as a coach, you’d be sad if you were playing in another league. This is what you dream of.”