NEW YORK – The Ohio State men’s basketball team entered this week at a crucial point in its season.

The Buckeyes suffered a 38-point loss to Auburn last weekend, their third loss in four games. In addition to the on-court struggles, Ohio State announced Tuesday that senior guard Meechie Johnson, who started the first 10 games of the season, is taking a leave of absence for personal reasons.

There was nothing a trip to New York to face red-hot No. 4 Kentucky couldn’t solve as Ohio State defeated the Wildcats 85-65 in Game 2 of the CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.

Ohio State University guard Bruce Thornton led the way with 30 points, setting the tone early with sustained aggressive attacks to the rim and then making big shots in the second half. Kentucky had no answer for Thornton’s ability to get into the lane and finish in traffic; He responded every time the Wildcats tried to take the lead in the second half.

The Buckeyes, who improved to 8-4, took control late in the first half and Kentucky didn’t get closer to six points the rest of the game.

“I feel like our preparation over the last few days and the way it was presented to the team has been great,” Thornton said. “We understood the game plan with Kentucky and understood that we could go downhill after the guards. The game became more open … and we were able to go downhill.”

Freshman guard John Mobley entered Saturday’s game as one of the best 3-point shooters in the country, but was just 1-for-8 from behind the arc. However, like Thornton, he managed to get to the basket and made a career-best four two-point shots.

“I feel like we just kept attacking,” Mobley said. “That was the game plan, just keep attacking. We were really connected on offense, so we definitely kept attacking and sticking to the game plan.”

The return of Aaron Bradshaw and Ques Glover, two players who were sidelined last month for different reasons, provided a significant boost for Jake Diebler’s team.

Bradshaw, who transferred from Kentucky to Ohio State last spring, had missed the last seven games due to a university investigation. He came off the bench on Saturday to score 11 points and was a key defensive contributor. Glover, who briefly signed for Mark Pope at BYU in 2023, has missed the last eight games with an ankle injury – and he came off the bench to score nine points.

“I thought it was a significant boost,” Diebler said. “We felt like depth was going to be a real strength for us at the start of this year and we haven’t had the opportunity to play with that depth for most of this year. It’s also impacted training and building because there’s still a lot of that. “New things in this program, new personnel, new players, new system, and I think that has had a little bit of an impact on our growth.

“But it was nice to have some depth tonight and these guys definitely stepped up.”

Kentucky lost for just the second time all season, ending a three-game winning streak that included an overtime win over Gonzaga in Seattle and a home win over rival Louisville last weekend. The Wildcats, one of the top shooting teams in the country, had their worst shooting night of the season, going just 4 for 22 from the 3-point line. Perhaps more importantly, they also really struggled to finish at the rim, shooting 37.1% from inside the arc and just 7 of 23 on layups.

“I think we knew going into the game that they helped us a lot, especially when we got on the team,” Kentucky big man Andrew Carr said. “I felt like we probably could have done a better job when things don’t go our way, playing with two feet and going back to the basics of the game… Definitely something we’re learning and improving on can.”

“There were a lot of possessions our guys would like to get back,” Pope added.

Kentucky has now allowed at least a point per possession in each of its last five games after not allowing any of its first seven opponents – including Duke – to reach that mark. The teams are shooting nearly 55% from the interior in these five games against Kentucky.

On the other hand, Kentucky’s two worst offensive performances – and its two worst 3-point shooting performances – came in the two losses. In that five-game span, the Wildcats shot 31% from three and are 175th in 3-point attempt percentage. By comparison, Pope’s BYU team ranked fourth nationally in shooting percentage last season 3-point attempt rate.

The Wildcats (10-2) have 10 days off before hosting Brown on New Year’s Eve and then straight into SEC play: home against Florida, at Georgia, at Mississippi State, home against Texas A&M, home against Alabama.

“I know these guys,” Pope said. “They’re going to come in and – it’s not going to be just empty emotion. It’s going to be like we’re going to get better and these guys are going to get better and we’ve just got to continue to trust what we’re doing. “We had some defensive issues tonight and then we fell apart offensively and we’re just going to our default setting transitioned, and our default setting is still bad habits.

“But these guys are going to respond great because they’re incredible young men and they’re going to come back and work like crazy and they know who they represent and how much it means and it’s incredibly painful to lose this game. But they will respond.”