Ohio St. @ Kentucky preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 19, 2015 ) Kentucky 67, Ohio St. 74

Fourth-ranked Ohio State and No. 6 Kentucky square off Saturday in a CBS Sports Classic game in Las Vegas with an opportunity to solidify their status among the top teams in the country. Each team was upset within the past week - Ohio State on Sunday at Minnesota and Kentucky on Wednesday by Utah in Las Vegas - but the elite programs have only lost a combined three games to date.

Ohio State bounced back from the loss at Minnesota to handle Southeast Missouri State 80-48 on Tuesday, but the Buckeyes looked sloppy with 21 turnovers and coach Chris Holtmann wants to see his team clean up its act. Regaining the services of Duane Washington Jr. could give the Buckeyes a stabilizing force. The team's second-leading scorer missed the past two games with a rib injury. Kentucky had recovered nicely from an early season loss to Evansville before its clunker against Utah in which the Wildcats made 2-of-17 from 3-point range compared with the Utes' 8-for-15 shooting from long range.

TV: 5:15 p.m. ET, CBS

ABOUT KENTUCKY (8-2): Point guard Ashton Hagans leads the Wildcats in scoring at 13.9 points per game and in assists at 7.1. Shooting guard Immanuel Quickley is averaging 11.3 points but went 2-for-10 from the field and 0-for-4 on 3-pointers in the loss to Utah, and Tyrese Maxey averages 12.9 points as part of a three-guard lineup. A player to watch will be big man Nick Richards, who averages 12.9 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game but will be going up against Ohio State's All-Big Ten power forward Kaleb Wesson.

ABOUT OHIO STATE (10-1): Washington's absence was noticeable in the loss at Minnesota, where Ohio State could have used his 11.4 points per game and 53.7 percent 3-point shooting. Wesson is averaging 14.1 points and 9.3 rebounds and shooting 46.3 percent from the field, but has turned the ball over 11 times in the past two games. Similar to Kentucky, Ohio State brings two productive freshmen - guard D.J. Carton and forward E.J. Liddell - off the bench who could end up being difference-makers in this matchup of top teams.

TIP-INS

1. Ohio State is shooting 41.6 percent on 3-pointers compared with Kentucky's 27.5 percent from behind the arc.

2. Kentucky hasn't lost two games in a row since Feb. 10-14, 2018 at Texas A&M and Auburn.

3. Despite allowing Minnesota to score 84 points on Sunday, Ohio State remains among the best defensive teams in the country at 56.7 points per game, which ranked ninth nationally entering Friday.

PREDICTION: Kentucky 77, Ohio State 75