2023 Game Results: Ohio State, Kentucky Come Away Winners
Game 1: Ohio State 67, UCLA 60
In a game befitting of two top defenses, Ohio State got gutty performances from sophomores Roddy Gayle Jr. and Bruce Thornton to knock-off UCLA 67-60 on Saturday in the CBS Sports Classic at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
Ohio State is now 5-4 all-time in the CBS Sports Classic and improves to 9-2 on the season.
Gayle Jr. finished with a game-high 19 points and the Fairburn, Ga., native Thornton had 13 points, a career-high seven rebounds and a game-high four assists.
Jamison Battle made the Buckeyes’ lone three-pointer of the game, and it came at just the right time. Leading 59-56 with under a minute to play, Battle canned a long three-pointer from the top of the key to shove the lead to six. He finished with 14 points.
Felix Opara had 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting and Zed Key posted three points and three rebounds.
Game 2: Kentucky 87, North Carolina 83
It was billed as a game between experience and talented youth. No. 9 North Carolina had a ton of experience, with players like RJ Davis and Armando Bacot. No. 14 Kentucky had its super-talented freshman class.
In the end, it was the talented freshmen from Kentucky who not only prevailed, but who handled the pressure down the stretch in an 87-83 win over North Carolina in Atlanta.
Kentucky’s last eight points, and 18 of its last 20, were scored by freshmen. Rob Dillingham came off the bench to lead UK with 17 points. Fellow freshman D.J. Wagner had 14, while classmate Aaron Bradshaw had 12. Reed Sheppard came off the bench to score 11. Add the eight points from Justin Edwards and Kentucky’s freshmen accounted for 62 of UK’s 87 points.