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D.J. Carton Helps Ohio State Hold Off No. 6 Kentucky

Buckeyes' freshman guard makes crucial big plays down stretch

Bruce Hooley

D.J. Carton Helps Ohio State Hold Off No. 6 Kentucky
D.J. Carton Helps Ohio State Hold Off No. 6 Kentucky /

In the isolated highlights he's offered so far this season, it's been apparent that Ohio State freshman D.J. Carton's time has been coming.

Consider it here.

Carton's series of game-turning plays down the stretch flipped the tide to No. 5 OSU Saturday in a 71-65 victory over sixth-ranked Kentucky in the CBS Sports Classic in Las Vegas.

In front, but struggling, most of the game, Ohio State allowed a 51-44 lead at 10:45 to shrink to 55-44 inside the seven-minute mark when Carton took over:

  • His backdoor layup at 6:21 built a 57-44 advantage.
  • His steal at the other end denied a Kentucky scoring opportunity in the lane.
  • With UK on the break and shooting an open 3 in transition to get within two points, Carton leaped and blocked the shot out of bounds with 3:03 left.
  • After teammate C.J. Walker missed two free throws and Luther Muhammed traveled to kick away two possesions late, Carton drove and scored at 1:10 to build a 64-57 edge.
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Walker's three-point field goal with 26 seconds left sealed OSU's advance to 11-1 and provided its third win this season over a Top 10 opponent, following earlier victories over Villanova and North Carolina.

Carton led OSU with 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting and played 28 minutes with one turnover against one of the best defensive backcourts in the country.

His excellence mitigated the damage of leading scorer and rebounder Kaleb Wesson's foul issues. Wesson sat out the last six minutes of the first half and six more in the second half before fouling out with 3:30 left and Ohio State in front, 62-57.

They preserved that advantage over the time that remained, holding UK to 35% shooting in the second half after the Wildcats hit half their attempts through 20 minutes.

"It's a great win for our program," OSU coach Chris Holtmann said. "It's a great win for our guy."

Nate Sestina, a graduate transfer from Bucknell, kept Kentucky in contention for the first 30 minutes with five three-point field goals -- two more than he had made all season.

OSU took away his looks off screen-and-rolls by switching to a zone defense that took away his space on the perimeter.

Sestina did not score over the last 10 minutes. He finished with 17 points.

"I thought that's what won it for us," Holtmann said of his team's defensive improvement. "As the game got tight, we made it difficult for them to score late. We knew if we had it difficult to score, we were going to make a three or something to seal the game."

Ohio State plays West Virginia at noon Sunday at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.

Ohio State used some fortunate bounces and a few hustle plays to widen a three-point lead to 51-44 by the 10:45 mark.

E.J. Liddell tracked an Andre Wesson shot blocked to him and scored, then Wesson raced back and blocked a run-out layup attempt from Tyrese Maxey.

Kyle Young filled in defensively underneath when Kentucky tracked the rebound to keep the Wildcats from scoring.

Carton then scrambled to grab a loose ball before OSU's shot clock expired, hurried an attempt toward the rim and got fouled just before the buzzer.

His two free throws gave the Buckeyes their largest lead, and his layup drive at 9:28 rebuilt the margin to five after UK closed within 51-48.

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Bruce Hooley
BRUCE HOOLEY

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