The Kentucky Wildcats returned to New York City for the CBS Sports Classic, this time facing Ohio State at Madison Square Garden.

The Wildcats played far from their best game and lost to the unranked Buckeyes 85-65.

Kentucky was only able to hit 34% of its shots in the first half, while Ohio State was able to make 63% of its shots. Given those numbers, the Wildcats were actually lucky to only trail 39-30 at halftime.

As good coaches do, Mark Pope made adjustments in the second period that gave Kentucky multiple chances to get back in the game.

But every time the Wildcats landed a shot, Ohio State had an answer of its own.

It’s a disappointing loss for Kentucky as they didn’t play well in any phase of the game. The Wildcats missed a lot of open shots around the rim and didn’t create much on the perimeter to get things going from the outside.

Kentucky’s point total was its lowest this season and is further evidence that if a team is able to get the Wildcats out of their pass-heavy rhythm, it can significantly impact their ability to score.

In addition to not scoring the ball efficiently, Kentucky was either committing fouls or giving up open shots because there were way too many possessions. Their defense just wasn’t good. Ohio State has capable scorers, but it was a little too easy for them to put points on the board on Saturday night.

Pope and his Wildcats return to Lexington with a sure shot at dropping several spots in the top 25 rankings. They are scheduled to face Brown on New Year’s Eve before Southeastern Conference play against the Florida Gators on Jan. 4.

Find the full box score, MVP and Twitter reactions to the game here.

Box score

MVP

Despite Saturday night’s performance, Kentucky has been pretty good at shooting the basketball this season.

The Wildcats just couldn’t get anything going on offense against Ohio State, but that didn’t stop Otega Oweh from putting his head down and driving to the basket.

The junior guard is the team’s leading scorer this season and held that title again Saturday, with 21 goals on 4/13 shooting from the field but a perfect 13/13 at the free throw line.

Even when Kentucky’s ball movement isn’t working the way they would like, Oweh still finds a way to put the ball in the basket.

His creativity and toughness will be exactly what Kentucky needs when SEC play begins.

Kentucky vs Ohio State Twitter Reactions

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