Kentucky

Kentucky vs. Ohio State: Preview, Odds & How to Watch

Published

12 months ago

December 21, 2024

Kentucky vs. Ohio State: Preview, Odds & How to Watch

As the great philosopher Alicia Augello Cook once said, New York is the concrete jungle where dreams are made of and there is nothing you can’t do. Kentucky‘s dream is to leave with another big-time win, this time vs. Ohio State in the CBS Sports Classic. The Wildcats are riding a three-game winning streak into this one while the Buckeyes are limping in losing three of the team’s last five. It’s a chance to start 11-1 on the season for the first time since the 2012 national championship with a victory putting the team one Brown win on New Year’s Eve away from a 12-1 non-conference finish going into SEC play in January.

What do you need to know about the matchup at Madison Square Garden? KSR has you covered from the Big Apple.

Kentucky vs. Ohio State: How to Watch, Listen

Kentucky vs. Ohio State is the second half of the CBS Sports Classic, which tips off with UCLA vs. North Carolina at 3:00 p.m. ET. The Cats will tip-off against the Buckeyes at approximately 5:30 p.m.

Time: 5:30 p.m. ET
Television: CBS (Brad Nessler, Bill Raftery, Jenny Dell)
Streaming: Paramount+
Home Radio: UK Sports Network – 630 WLAP, iHeart Radio (Tom Leach, Goose Givens)
Online Radio: iHeart
Satellite Radio: Sirius 158 or 191
Live Stats: StatBroadcast

You can also follow the game via our new LIVE BLOG on the website, which will begin an hour before tipoff, or join the conversation on KSBoard.

Early season rewind

Kentucky: KenPom 12

11/4: 103-62 W vs. Wright State
11/9: 100-72 W vs. Bucknell
11/12: 77-72 W vs. No. 6 Duke
11/19: 97-68 W vs. Lipscomb
11/22: 108-59 W vs. Jackson State
11/26: 87-68 W vs. Western Kentucky
11/29: 105-76 W vs. Georgia State
12/3: 70-66 L at Clemson
12/7: 90-89 W OT vs. Gonzaga
12/11: 78-67 W vs. Colgate
12/14: 93-85 W vs. Louisville

Ohio State: KenPom 38

11/4: 80-72 W vs. Texas
11/11: 81-47 W Youngstown State
11/15: 78-64 L at Texas A&M
11/19: 80-30 W vs. Evansville
11/22: 104-60 W vs. Campbell
11/25: 102-69 W vs. Green Bay
11/29: 91-90 L vs. Pittsburgh
12/4: 83-59 L at Maryland
12/7: 80-66 W vs. Rutgers
12/14: 91-53 L vs. Auburn
12/17: 95-73 W vs. Valparaiso

Series History

The all-time series slightly favors Kentucky 11-10, though Ohio State enters the matchup on a two-game winning streak with CBS Sports Classic wins in 2019 in Vegas (71-65) and in 2015 in Brooklyn (74-67). Before that, it was Brandon Knight’s game-winner in the 2011 NCAA Tournament, the Wildcats upsetting the No. 1 seed Buckeyes in Newark. OSU leads the all-time neutral-floor series 6-4.

Mark Pope has not taken on the Buckeyes at his previous stops while this is first-year coach Jake Diebler’s first matchup against the Wildcats.

Kentucky vs. Ohio State Odds

Spread: Kentucky -5.5
Total: 160.5

Kentucky covered the spread in its first five games of the season before falling just short of that mark in back-to-back matchups vs. WKU and Georgia State. The Wildcats then lost outright as slight favorites at Clemson before winning outright against Gonzaga in Seattle as solid underdogs. They did not cover the spread vs. Colgate or Louisville despite the wins. KenPom projects an 83-78 victory for the Wildcats while Bart Torvik sees UK coming away with an 84-77 win inside Madison Square Garden.

Kentucky Projected Starters

#1 – Lamont Butler
6-2 – 208 – GUARD – GRADUATE STUDENT
15.1 PPG, 4.1 APG, 3.1 RPG

#00 – Otega Oweh
6-4 – 215 – GUARD – JUNIOR
15.7 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.4 SPG

#2 – Jaxson Robinson
6-6 – 192 – GUARD – GRADUATE STUDENT
12.5 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 1.9 APG

#7 – Andrew Carr
6-11 – 235 – FORWARD – GRADUATE STUDENT
10.9 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 2.7 APG

#22 – Amari Williams
7-0 – 262 – CENTER – GRADUATE STUDENT
10.2 PPG, 9.1 RPG, 1.6 BPG

Ohio State Projected Starters

#2 – Bruce Thornton
6-2 – 215 – GUARD – JUNIOR
14.8 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 5.1 APG

#0 – John Mobley Jr.
6-1 – 175 – GUARD – FRESHMAN
12.1 PPG, 1.3 RPG, 1.5 APG

#8 – Micah Parrish
6-6 – 205 – GUARD – SENIOR
10.5 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 1.9 APG

#21 – Devin Royal
6-6 – 220 – FORWARD – SOPHOMORE
15.6 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 0.9 APG

#0 – Sean Stewart
6-9 – 220 – FORWARD – SOPHOMORE
5.7 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 0.5 APG

Statistical Comparison

(via Kentucky’s game notes)

Fun stats from UK’s game notes:

Lamont Butler is coming off SEC Player of the Year and USBWA National Player of the Week honors following a 33-point effort vs. Louisville
Kentucky leads the nation in scoring at 91.3 points per game with four 100-point performances. The Cats are No. 3 in assist-to-turnover ratio, No. 8 in assists per game and No. 9 in fastbreak points
UK leads the country in defensive rebounding (32.73) and sits in fourth in total rebounds (44.45).
The Cats are 5-5 in the CBS Sports Classic, but 0-2 against Ohio State in the event. This is the first head-to-head matchup against the Buckeyes since 2019-20.

Pregame Storylines

A BATTLE OF 3-POINT SHOOTING

Kentucky was stuck in a shooting funk leading up to Louisville before finally getting back on track with an 11-21 finish (52.4 percent) against the Cards. That pushed the Cats back up to No. 78 nationally in efficiency while sitting at No. 30 in total makes per game, though no one is doubting this team’s ability to shoot long-term. As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes are a bit flipped — No. 13 in efficiency, but No. 85 in makes and No. 222 in attempts. Of those with at least 10 attempts on the year, Kentucky has six shooting at least 30 percent while Ohio State has four hitting that mark. Which side will come out on top Saturday?

REUNITING WITH AARON BRADSHAW

The former five-star forward signed with Kentucky out of high school, one of John Calipari’s top recruits in the program’s top-ranked class in 2023. Suffering a broken foot in the spring, Bradshaw was then limited to 26 games played in Lexington, averaging 4.9 points and 3.3 rebounds in 13.8 minutes per contest. He struggled to carve out a clear role alongside Zvonimir Ivisic and Ugonna Onyenso before deciding to transfer for his sophomore campaign, opting against following Coach Cal to Arkansas in favor of the Buckeyes in Columbus. He’s played in four games at OSU, averaging 7.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in 23.8 minutes per game before being held out while being investigated by the school since November 22. Bradshaw has since been cleared to return to team activities, but “it’s not a clear answer yet on his availability” for Saturday as he ramps back up physically, Diebler said.

WILL MEECHIE JOHNSON PLAY?

Bradshaw was the first major loss for the Buckeyes, and now, Meechie Johnson has taken a leave of absence with the team, as well. The fifth-year guard is away to “address some personal matters,” the team announced, and his return remains unclear. “Meechie is still working through his personal stuff,” Diebler said this week. Transferring in from South Carolina where he was an All-SEC member a year ago, Johnson is second on the team in minutes played at 28.8 per contest with 10 starts while scoring 9.1 points per game on 35.7 percent shooting from three.

OSU IS JUGGLING THE CFB PLAYOFF

The very first line of the official game notes says this is “the second biggest game for an Ohio State team this weekend.” The basketball program knows its place as the football team takes on Tennessee in the first round of the College Football Playoff, that matchup scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 21 at 8 p.m. ET in Columbus. What does that mean for Madison Square Garden? Well, don’t expect a strong showing from the Buckeyes in terms of fan support while Big Blue Nation travels anywhere for anything. NYC at Christmas? You better believe it is a sea of blue up here.

A NEW YORK HOMECOMING

Koby Brea is a native of Washington Heights, NY while Ansley Almonor is from Spring Valley, NY. Otega Oweh isn’t too far, either, as a native of Newark, NJ — just 15 miles away from Madison Square Garden. Andrew Carr’s hometown of West Chester, PA is just 122 miles away, too, making it a short drive for friends and family. Go down the list and there are connections all over the place, including with Mark Pope, who grew up in Yorktown Heights, NY.

Join The Discussion on KSBoard

Want to interact with the KSR crew during tonight’s game? Consider joining the conversation on KSBoard, where we’ll be sharing live updates as your eyes and ears inside Madison Square Garden while also answering questions and providing real-time analysis (and probably complaining about the officiating).

New members can get KSR+ for seven days for just $1.

Rapid Reaction on the KSR YouTube Channel

Miss the game? KSR’s got you covered with a Rapid Reaction live on the KSR YouTube Channel. We’ll also have wall-to-wall postgame coverage on the website, including highlights, comments from Mark Pope and the players, stats, and takeaways.

Subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel for press conferences, interviews, original shows, fan features, and exclusive content.

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Kentucky

The Indiana game is a must-win for Kentucky, even in December

Published

4 hours ago

December 13, 2025

Press Room

The Indiana game is a must-win for Kentucky, even in December

One week ago, I wrote that Kentucky needed to show us something against Gonzaga. Unfortunately, it did, in a bad way. The Cats’ 35-point loss to the Bulldogs was their fourth to a ranked team this year. It was a performance so abysmal that the team got booed off the floor at halftime. Ever since, BBN has been in a tailspin, uncertainty about the program’s short-and long-term future hanging over the Bluegrass like a thick fog.

Kentucky has already gotten back in the win column, beating NC Central by 36 on Tuesday night; however, the true test of whether or not the Cats have reached rock bottom is Saturday vs. Indiana. The Hoosiers are 8-2, losing to Minnesota and Louisville last week. They rebounded from the 87-78 loss to the No. 6 Cards by routing Penn State 113-72 on Tuesday, thanks in large part to 44 points from Lamar Wilkerson, who picked Indiana over Kentucky out of the transfer portal this past April.

Both Kentucky and Indiana fell out of the AP and Coaches Polls this week, hovering near each other in the group of “others receiving votes.” KenPom ranks Kentucky No. 20 and Indiana No. 21. It gives the Cats a 4-point edge in Saturday’s game, while BetMGM goes a half-point higher at 4.5.

Thank goodness this one’s at Rupp because it’s a must-win, in more ways than one.

Resume

Let’s start with the most basic: the schedule. It may feel premature to start worrying about the NCAA Tournament, but we’re 10 games in, one-third of the way through the regular season, and Kentucky still doesn’t have a good win, going 0-4 in said opportunities. The highest-ranked team the Cats have beaten so far is Valparaiso, which ranks No. 191 in the NET rankings. All of Kentucky’s wins are in Quad 4, all of its losses in Quad 1. Quad 1 losses don’t hurt you a ton, but at some point, you have to pick up some meaningful wins to offset them.

The Cats have two more chances to pick up a Quad 1 win before SEC play begins: vs. Indiana and St. John’s. Over half of Kentucky’s conference games are in Quad 1; before starting that gauntlet, we need to see that the Cats are capable of winning one. Of the two coming up, beating Indiana in Rupp feels more manageable than Mark Pope taking down his old coach, Rick Pitino, and St. John’s next weekend in Atlanta.

Lamar Wilkerson

Much has been said about Kentucky’s struggles with recruiting this week. Most of that conversation has centered around high school recruiting, not the transfer portal, but Lamar Wilkerson is one of the biggest portal targets Mark Pope missed on this past offseason. Kentucky felt so good about landing him that Mark Pope took him to the winner’s circle at Keeneland. Instead, Wilkerson went to Indiana, the Hoosiers sweetening the pot at the last minute.

On Tuesday, Wilkerson set an Indiana record with 10 three-pointers in the win over Penn State. He is averaging 18.8 points and 3.5 made threes per game this season. There were other whiffs for Pope and his staff during the offseason, but Wilkerson will take center stage at Rupp tomorrow night, at a time when Kentucky’s $22 million team is the laughing stock of college basketball.

Please don’t let him get hot.

Lock in for the 2025 Kentucky Basketball season with KSR Plus! We’re giving you behind-the-scenes intel you won’t find anywhere else. Join the most passionate online community in the BBN during Mark Pope’s second season.

Fan fatigue

You don’t need me to tell you BBN is unhappy. The boos in Nashville were ugly proof of the unrest in the fanbase now. Concerns about recruiting and the school’s partnership with JMI, as outlined by Jacob Polacheck and Jack Pilgrim earlier this week, aren’t helping. Mark Pope struck a different tone on Tuesday night, using his bench to send messages to Kam Williams, Jaland Lowe, and Brandon Garrison, and biting back anger afterward as he talked about how his team continues to fall short of the standard. On the player side, Otega Oweh seemed to step up as a leader, scoring a season-high 21 points and insisting all is well in the locker room during interviews, one of which took place with his teammates surrounding him.

On Saturday, we get to see if those baby steps of progress are enough to avoid a fifth loss. Kentucky has already lost one home game this season, last week vs. North Carolina. Given all that’s happened since, there might be boos if the Cats pick up a second tomorrow night.

Fear of becoming Indiana

Indiana used to be one of Kentucky’s biggest rivals; for fans of a certain age, the Hoosiers may still be. Over the past 20 or so years, Indiana has faded to irrelevance. The Hoosiers haven’t gone to a Final Four since 2002. There’s a reason they put Christian Watford’s buzzer-beater vs. Kentucky in 2011 on a popcorn box; they haven’t had much else to celebrate.

As Kentucky fans, we’ve made our fair share of jokes about Indiana, but it’s not quite as funny now that the Cats haven’t gone to the Final Four in a decade, won an SEC regular-season championship since 2019-20, or an SEC Tournament title since 2017-18. For all our hopes that Mark Pope would be the one to turn it around, Kentucky still hasn’t won a big game this season. As Mark Story outlined in the Herald-Leader, Kentucky could be on the path to becoming the next Indiana, which makes Saturday’s game even bigger. With this being the first game in a four-year series, it could be an annual reminder if things keep trending in this direction.

So, please, Kentucky, win this basketball game. You can make it my early Christmas gift.

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Kentucky

Kentucky lawmaker introduces federal bill to fight pharmacy benefit managers

Published

16 hours ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

Kentucky lawmaker introduces federal bill to fight pharmacy benefit managers

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Kentucky lawmaker is taking the fight for pharmacists to Washington.

Representative James Comer introduced the Pharmacists Fight Back Act on Thursday.

Kentucky already has a similar law in place that WKYT Investigates’ Kristen Kennedy has been following as the state works to get the law enforced.

Kentucky pharmacists may now get help on the federal level.

“Rarely does a day go by without hearing from my constituents in Kentucky who are struggling under the weight of soaring prescription drug costs,” Comer said. “The questions I’m consistently asked are, ‘why? Who is benefiting from the system? Why isn’t it patients?’ My response is the same each time. It’s the PBMs.”

Federal bill targets pharmacy benefit managers

Comer says pharmacy benefit managers have outgrown their role in healthcare. State legislators agreed when they passed Senate Bill 188 last year. The law was supposed to increase reimbursement rates for pharmacies and keep PBMs from steering patients to affiliated pharmacies.

The regulations are similar to what Comer wants to do on a federal level.

“Our oversight investigation, which culminated in a report last year with our findings and recommendations, found PBMs have largely operated in the dark,” Comer said. “PBMs have abused their positions as middlemen to line their own pockets by retaining rebates and fees, undermine our community pharmacists and pass along costs to patients at the pharmacy counter. It’s unacceptable, and Congress has a responsibility to act.”

If the act becomes law, it would affect pharmacies across the U.S.

Pharmacists in Kentucky are already seeing some advantages with the regulations placed on pharmacy benefit managers, but their biggest complaint is that the law isn’t being enforced.

That could change if the federal government gets involved. The Kentucky Pharmacists Association thinks Frankfort has a responsibility to act on the PBM law that passed in the state. They’re still asking the governor to make sure the Department of Insurance is enforcing the law in place.

Stay informed on investigations like this by checking out our WKYT Investigates page at wkyt.com/investigates.

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Kentucky

Several people hurt in Western Kentucky Parkway multi-car accident, officials say

Published

1 day ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

Several people hurt in Western Kentucky Parkway multi-car accident, officials say

MUHLENBERG, Ky. (WFIE) – Kentucky officials says there are multiple people injured in a three-car accident on Western Kentucky Parkway.

According to a post made by the Central City Fire Department, three vehicles were involved in a crash between the 64 and 65 mile markers eastbound of the parkway.

They say both the eastbound and westbound lanes are closed at this time. The closure should last around 3 hours.

Two people were extricated from a vehicle. Four adults and three juveniles are being taken to the hospital. No update has been given on their conditions.

They say a mass casualty incident was declared, and Ohio County Fire and EMS were called to the scene due to the number of patients.

We will update you when we learn more.

Several people hurt in Western Kentucky Parkway multi-car accident, officials say(Central City Fire Department)

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