NEW YORK — Bruce Thornton scored 22 of his career-high 30 points in the second half and Ohio State cruised to an 85-65 victory over No. 4 Kentucky on Saturday in the CBS Classic at Madison Square Garden.
John Mobley Jr. added 15 points and Aaron Bradshaw scored 11 for Ohio State (8-4), which shot 56.6% and scored 36 points in the paint.
Otega Oweh hit a career-high 13 free throws and scored 21 points for Kentucky (10-2), which shot a season-worst 29.8%. Andrew Carr added 13 points and Jaxson Robinson had 10 as the Wildcats were held to their lowest point total this season.
The Buckeyes fared much better in their second neutral-site game against a top-five team in a week. They were blown out 91-57 by No. 2 Auburn on Dec. 14 in Atlanta.
After shooting 1 of 7 against Auburn, Thornton made 8 of 13 shots, including an off-balance jumper in the lane as the shot clock expired that put the Buckeyes up 64-51 with about 9 1/2 minutes left. He was 13 of 14 on free throws.
Takeaways
Ohio State: Bradshaw returned after missing six games while the school investigated a possible domestic incident at his off-campus apartment. Third-leading scorer Micah Parrish exited with a knee injury early in the second half.
Kentucky: Lamont Butler struggled after a scoring career-high 33 points last week against Louisville. He was held to four points on 1-of-7 shooting before fouling out.
Key moment
Ohio State led 39-30 at halftime after outscoring Kentucky 19-9 over the final nine minutes and holding the Wildcats to one basket in that span.
Key stat
Kentucky struggled immensely near the basket, missing 16 of 23 layups.
Up next
Ohio State hosts Indiana State on Dec. 29. Kentucky hosts Brown on Dec. 31.
