As UCLA approaches, how has Ohio State historically done in the CBS Sports Classic?
For the ninth time in 10 years, Ohio State will converge on a city alongside Kentucky, North Carolina and UCLA for a doubleheader.
On the books through 2026, the CBS Sports Classic annually rotates matchups between the four teams on a neutral court in games typically played the Saturday before Christmas. This year, Ohio State and UCLA will play Saturday at Atlanta’s State Farm Center before No. 9 North Carolina and No. 14 Kentucky play in the nightcap.
The Buckeyes are 4-4 all-time in the event. North Carolina has the best record at 6-3, while Kentucky is 4-5 and UCLA is 3-5.
“You’re talking about blue blood basketball programs, so to align ourselves in a group with three other schools that are historically basketball schools, there’s great value with that,” Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said. “We’re unique in that sense, being a school that’s a little different. It’s always good teams. It’s always good competition. You’re almost always playing tournament teams. UCLA is a bona fide tournament team. I know how they’ll grow and continue to get better. I love the event.”
This year is the first time the doubleheader will be played in Atlanta after having previously called Chicago, Brooklyn, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Cleveland and New York City home. It marks a homecoming for second-year Buckeyes guard Bruce Thornton.
Here is how Ohio State has done each year.
2014 – No. 24 North Carolina 82, No. 12 Ohio State 74
The Buckeyes held a four-game winning streak as they went to the United Center in Chicago, but Brice Johnson scored 18 points and Marcus Paige added 16 to give Ohio State (9-2) an 82-74 defeat. Marc Loving led the Buckeyes with 19 points on 5-of-8 shooting from 3-point range, D’Angelo Russell had 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists and Shannon Scott had 10 points, nine assists and six rebounds against the program where his dad, Charlie, scored 2,007 points from 1967-70.
The game was North Carolina’s sixth straight win against Ohio State. The Tar Heels led by as many as 18 points during the second half.
2015 – Ohio State 74, No. 4 Kentucky 67
This one was a stunner. After having taken four straight losses including home defeats to UT-Arlington and Louisiana Tech to open the season 2-4 overall, the Buckeyes stunned the Wildcats in a game that coach Thad Matta said was personal after having taken an upset loss to Kentucky in the 2011 Sweet 16. Ohio State led by 12 at halftime and by 16 with 11:26 remaining only to have the lead cut to 63-60 with about four minutes remaining. Free throws, a diving save of a loose ball by Daniel Giddens and Trevor Thompson outplaying Skal Labissiere proved to be the difference in one of the final big wins of the Matta era.
Keita Bates-Diop led Ohio State with 14 points and seven rebounds, Loving had 12 points and eight rebounds and Jae’Sean Tate had 6 points and a game-high 10 rebounds at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
2016 – No. 2 UCLA 86, Ohio State 73
The Buckeyes were no match for high-powered UCLA inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The Bruins led for 33:53, outrebounded Ohio State 41-31, forced the Buckeyes into 17 turnovers and led by as many as 14 points in a game that was largely noncompetitive. Bruins star Lonzo Ball nearly posted a triple-double, finishing with 8 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
Loving led the Buckeyes with 19 points, 13 of which came during the first half. Tate had 15 and Bates-Diop added 13. The Buckeyes went 5 for 24 (20.8%) from 3.
2017 – No. 5 North Carolina 86, Ohio State 72
For a second straight year in the event, Ohio State had few answers in a matchup against a top-five team. The Tar Heels built a 14-point halftime lead and matched the Buckeyes point for point in the second half to cruise to the double-digit victory in coach Chris Holtmann’s first season. Ohio State led 20-17, but North Carolina closed the first half with a 24-7 run inside the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans to blow the game open.
Bates-Diop led all scorers with 26 points, 19 of which came in the second half after he was hit with two early fouls and spent much of the first half on the bench. C.J. Jackson scored 19 including Ohio State’s first 11 points. Since the win against No. 4 Kentucky in 2017, the loss was the fifth straight against a top-five opponent for the Buckeyes and dropped them to 10-4 on the year.
2018 – No. 15 Ohio State 80, UCLA 66
In what would be the penultimate game of Steve Alford’s coaching career at UCLA, sophomore center Kaleb Wesson continued a strong start to his season and both Jackson and Keyshawn Woods enjoyed breakout games inside Chicago’s United Center. Jackson had been averaging 10.0 points per game but scored 22 and grabbed seven rebounds, Wesson had his second double-double in three games by scoring 15 points and grabbing 12 rebounds and Woods dished out 10 assists with no turnovers.
Kris Wilkes led UCLA with 18 points. After the Bruins lost at home to Liberty in their next game one week later, Alford was fired.
2019 – No. 5 Ohio State 71, No. 6 Kentucky 65
The Buckeyes led this top-10 matchup for 32:56, outplaying the Wildcats throughout what would be their third top-10 win of the season. That marked the first time since 2013-13 that Ohio State had beaten three top-10 teams, and the Buckeyes did it with balance as seven players scored at least seven points led by DJ Carton’s 15 and Kyle Young and Wesson’s 10 apiece.
Major League Baseball star Bryce Harper took in the game at T-Mobile Arena from courtside seats while wearing Ohio State gear.
2020 – No. 20 Ohio State 77, UCLA 70
This was a strange one. Played in front of no fans inside Cleveland’s Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, Ohio State pulled away from UCLA after the game was tied at 63, and it was “Downtown” Gene Brown III who was the unexpected star, hitting all of his three 3-pointers after having made two in the first six games of his collegiate career. The game also marked the first action for Seth Towns, a Harvard transfer who appeared in his first game in 1,014 days and missed one shot in two minutes of action.
Ohio State was scheduled to play North Carolina when the matchups were announced during the summer, but the opponents were switched so that the Buckeyes could play a UCLA team whose conference’s COVID-19 protocols better lined up with those in place for the Big Ten.
Ohio State Buckeyes: Join the Ohio State Sports Insider text group with Bill Rabinowitz, Joey Kaufman Adam Jardy
2021 – No game
Oh, there was one on the schedule. Then a COVID-19 variant ran rampant, canceling games across the country and scuttling what was slated to be a matchup between No. 15 Ohio State and North Carolina. The Tar Heels ended up playing Kentucky as UCLA, too, had things shut down due to the virus.
Ohio State went from Dec. 11 until Jan. 2 without playing a game.
2022 – North Carolina 89, No. 23 Ohio State 84, OT
The one that got away, and in a big way, for Ohio State. The Buckeyes led the Tar Heels by as many as 14 points during the first half, by 11 with about seven minutes to play and held the lead for 32:28, but the Tar Heels forced overtime by going the length of the court in the final seconds. Brice Sensabaugh scored in the paint to put the Buckeyes ahead 79-77, but the Tar Heels called timeout, drew up a play and quickly got the ball past halfcourt as Holtmann opted not to guard the inbounder before calling timeout again with 1.2 seconds left.
The Tar Heels then threw a cross-court pass to Pete Nance, who caught it over Sensabaugh, turned and sunk a jumper at the buzzer to force overtime. Ohio State never led in the extra period. Sensabaugh led the Buckeyes with 22 points. Ohio State was without captain Isaac “Ice” Likekele as he watched the game from the bench after missing time due to a personal situation.
Get more Ohio State basketball news by listening to our podcasts
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: With UCLA looming, here's how Ohio State has done in CBS Sports Classic
