College basketball final: Kentucky 87, North Carolina 83
In a battle between two of college basketball’s most storied programs, Kentucky plays North Carolina in the CBS Sports Classic on Saturday. CBS has the 5:30 p.m. television coverage from State Farm Arena.
Coached by John Calipari, Kentucky is 7-2 with losses to Kansas and UNC Wilmington. Coached by Hubert Davis, North Carolina is 7-2 with losses to Villanova and UConn. North Carolina is ranked No. 9 in the latest AP Top 25. Kentucky is ranked 14th.
For live updates follow us on Twitter/X at @BenRobertsHL for Ben Roberts; @markcstory for Mark Story; @cdrummond97 and @johnclayiv for yours truly.
You can follow a UK basketball X.com list here.
Final: Kentucky 87, North Carolina 83
Heels had a chance to tie it but Elliot Cadeau pass hit Cormac Ryan in the back. Ryan wasn’t looking for the pass. By the time UNC recovered, it was an over-and-back violation.
Kentucky 86-83 with 11.9 left
Rob Dillingham hit one of two free throws to give UK an 86-83 lead. Calipari calls time to set up his defense.
Kentucky 83-81 with 49.3 left
RJ Davis has 27 points for North Carolina. Kentucky has the ball out of bounds.
Kentucky 77-72 with 3:44 left
North Carolina took a 72-71 lead and Kentucky responded with six straight points.
Kentucky 67-62 with 7:56 left
Can the Cats execute well enough down the stretch to win this high-intensity game? UK shooting 37.9%. North Carolina shooting 45.8% for the game, but 52.9 this half.
Kentucky 60-51 with 11:41 left
North Carolina’s Armando Bacot has three points and four rebounds in 21 minutes. D.J. Wagner and Justin Edwards lead the Cats with six rebounds each. UK has a 32-28 edge on the boards.
Kentucky 52-43 with 15:43 left
Good news for UK is Cats have outscored UNC 12-5 to start second half. Bad news is Aaron Bradshaw picked up his third and fourth fouls.
Halftime: Kentucky 40, North Carolina 38
Wild first half. Kentucky led by as many as 11 points but Carolina went on an 8-0 run to trail just 40-38 at the break. UK shot 34.1% the first half. North Carolina shot 41.9. Kentucky was outscored 11-3 after Calipari’s technical foul at the 4:04 mark.
John Calipari gets technical with 4:04 left in half
Kentucky coach John Calipari got hit with a technical foul at the 4:04 mark of the first half with his team up by 10 points. Two free throws by North Carolina cut it to 37-29.
Kentucky 23, North Carolina 13 with 10:24 left in first half
Some fireworks as Rob Dillingham did not like a flagrant foul by North Carolina’s Paxson Wojcik. Then Hubert Davis did not like that John Calipari was allowed to come out on the floor. It’s now UK 23-13 with 10:24 left in first half. Cats are 9-of-17 from the floor for 52.9%.
Kentucky takes early 9-4 lead
Kentucky 9, North Carolina 4 at the 15:17 1H TV time. Aaron Bradshaw picking up where left off last week in win over Penn. UK’s 7-foot-1 freshman with 5 early points — a dunk and a 3-pointer. Bradshaw making his first start of the season. North Carolina committed three turnovers in the Heels’ first four possessions.
Officials for Kentucky-North Carolina are Kelly Pfeifer, Courtney Green, Patrick Evans.
Ohio State defeats UCLA in first game
Despite making just 1 of 15 3-point attempts, Ohio State defeated UCLA 67-60 in the first game of the CBS Sports Classic. Roddy Gayle led the Buckeyes with 19 points. UCLA shot just 1-of-9 shooting from 3-point range. The Bruins fell to 5-4. Ohio State improved to 9-2.
Who will win the Kentucky-North Carolina game? Here’s what the experts are thinking.
The five best wins for each program in the Kentucky vs. North Carolina basketball rivalry
Kentucky or North Carolina? An expert on both teams tells us who might have the advantage.
How No. 14 Kentucky and No. 9 North Carolina match up — with a game prediction
Will Kentucky have two 7-footers vs. North Carolina? ‘We’re looking forward to it ...’
Kentucky basketball finally has its center of attention. Up next is a classic foe.
While promoting his new movie, George Clooney talks Kentucky-North Carolina basketball