A down year for the Ohio State Buckeyes basketball team received a considerable lift on Saturday afternoon, as the Buckeyes pulled off the biggest upset of the season so far with a 74-67 victory over the #4 Kentucky Wildcats Saturday in the CBS Sports Classic in Brooklyn, New York.
Ohio State (6-5) led by 16 points with just over 11 minutes to play, but had to withstand a scintillating late rally by the Wildcats (9-2) in front of a mostly hostile crowd at the neutral-site Barclays Center.
UK freshman Jamal Murray led the late Wildcats charge, draining three after three in the second half en route to a career-high 33 points. All seven of his 3-pointers came in the final 20 minutes.
However, the Buckeyes ultimately held off Kentucky -- turning around a poor 2-of-5 stretch of free throws with four crucial makes in a row, pushing the lead back to 67-60 with just under 3 minutes left. The Buckeyes traded blows from there, snuffing out the Kentucky threat while silencing the majority of the 16,311 fans in attendance.
Forward Keith Bates-Diop led a balanced Buckeyes attack with 14 points. He was one of four Ohio State starters to reach double digits on Saturday. That was enough to hold off an inconsistent Wildcats team that missed 6 free throws out of 14 and struggled with ball control for the majority of the game.
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