BREAKING: Kentucky will play North Carolina in the CBS Sports Classic

Kentucky will take on North Carolina in the CBS Sports Classic on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET.

With Ohio State and UCLA pulling out of the event due to COVID-19, the Wildcats and Tar Heels will now play each other at T-Mobile Arena.

UK announced the new matchup this morning.

Showtime.

Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET, it’s Kentucky-North Carolina on CBS. pic.twitter.com/uSm8vP7WDG

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) December 17, 2021

North Carolina sits at 8-2 on the year with wins over Loyola, Brown, College of Charleston, UNC Asheville, Michigan, Georgia Tech, Elon and Furman. The Tar Heels’ two losses came against Purdue (93-84) and Tennessee (89-72).

UNC averages 80.4 points and allows 70.9 points per contest, with the Heels shooting 48.3 percent from the field, 40.9 percent from three and 74.4 percent from the line. They also average 40.6 rebounds, 15 assists, 12.5 turnovers (1.2 assist-to-turnover ratio), 5.5 steals and 3.7 blocks per game.

Individually, the Tar Heels are led by sophomore guard Caleb Love, who is averaging 16.2 points (43.9% FG, 42.9% 3PT), 4.3 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game. Junior forward Armando Bacot is also adding 14.3 points and 9.8 rebounds per game.

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 due to COVID-19, with UNC winning 75-63 in Cleveland. The Wildcats have won five of the last eight matchups overall in the series.

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.