UNC basketball will now play Kentucky in schedule shift. Here’s when and why.
No. 22 North Carolina will face Kentucky on Saturday in the CBS Classic in Cleveland instead of No. 20 Ohio State. The announcement was made Wednesday as organizers looked to “more closely align COVID-19 testing protocols” between competing teams.
“This a little unusual to say the least, but these are unusual times and that goes for college basketball, as well,” UNC coach Roy Williams said in a statement. “Our team wants to play in the CBS Sports Classic. Instead of Ohio State, we’ll play Kentucky. Perhaps it would have been better to make a change like this earlier, but the bottom line is we want to play. Kentucky, Ohio State and UCLA all have fantastic programs and we are excited about having the opportunity to play.”
This is the second Wednesday surprise for the Tar Heels, as last week N.C. Central replaced Elon on the schedule. The Heels (4-2) beat the Eagles last Saturday 73-67 in the Dean E. Smith Center.
Carolina lost to Kentucky 80-72 in 2018 when the two teams last faced each other in the Classic.
The Wildcats (1-4) have struggled this season with one of the youngest lineups in all of Division I. They have lost games to both of the ACC opponents - Georgia Tech (79-62) and Notre Dame (64-63) - on their schedule.
The Buckeyes will face UCLA in the second game of the doubleheader in the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.