CBS Sports Classic Update: UK to Play North Carolina on Saturday
LAS VEGAS – The Kentucky men’s basketball team will play North Carolina on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET (2:30 p.m. PT) in the CBS Sports Classic in place of the originally scheduled matchup vs. Ohio State.
The game vs. the Buckeyes was canceled Thursday afternoon due to positive COVID-19 results within the OSU program.
Tickets are on sale and can be secured through t-mobilearena.com or cbssportsclassic.com/tickets. Tickets that were already purchased for the original matchups are still valid for Saturday’s rescheduled game.
North Carolina is off to an 8-2 start this season and has won five straight games. The Tar Heels have five players averaging double figures, led by sophomore guard Caleb Love at 16.2 points per game. Junior forward Armando Bacot is adding 14.3 points and 9.8 rebounds per game.
The Tar Heels are receiving votes in both major polls.
Saturday’s matchup will mark the fourth between the two schools in the CBS Sports Classic. UK is 2-1 vs. the Tar Heels in the event after falling to North Carolina in the event last season. That game was also a rescheduled matchup last season to closely align COVID-19 testing protocols between the competing programs and their respective conferences.
UNC won last season’s matchup 75-63 in Cleveland, but the Wildcats have won five of the last eight matchups overall in the series.
The two teams met in Las Vegas in the 2016 CBS Sports Classic in an unforgettable thriller. Malik Monk scored a Kentucky freshman record 47 points in that matchup, including hitting a game-winning shot. The Wildcats also bested UNC 80-72 in 2018 in Chicago with Ashton Hagans tying a school record with eight steals.
North Carolina leads the four schools in the CBS Sports Classic with a 5-2 record. Ohio State is 4-3, UK is 3-4 and UCLA is 2-5 in the event.
All-time, UK trails the series vs. North Carolina 25-16. UNC holds a 12-6 edge when the game is played at a neutral site.
The CBS Sports Classic annually brings together four of the nation’s most successful college basketball programs. The quartet owns a combined 26 national championships, with UCLA (11), Kentucky (eight) and North Carolina (six) ranking first, second and third, respectively, in NCAA history. Additionally, all four programs rank in the top six in all time Final Four berths, compiling 65 total appearances between them (North Carolina, 20; UCLA, 18; Kentucky, 17; Ohio State, 11). They are among college basketball’s all-time winningest programs, combining for more than 8,300 victories. UK is No. 1 all-time and UNC is No. 3.
For the latest on the Kentucky men’s basketball team, follow @KentuckyMBB on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and on the web at UKathletics.com.
