Bruce Thornton scored 22 of his career-high 30 points in the second half and Ohio State cruised to an 85-65 victory over No. 4 Kentucky on Saturday in the CBS Classic at Madison Square Garden.

John Mobley Jr. added 15 points and Aaron Bradshaw scored 11 for Ohio State (8-4), which shot 56.6% and scored 36 points in the paint.

Otega Oweh hit a career-high 13 free throws and scored 21 points for Kentucky (10-2), which shot a season-worst 29.8%. Andrew Carr added 13 points and Jaxson Robinson had 10 as the Wildcats were held to their lowest point total this season.

The Buckeyes fared much better in their second neutral-site game against a top-five team in a week. They were blown out 91-57 by No. 2 Auburn on Dec. 14 in Atlanta.

After shooting 1 of 7 against Auburn, Thornton made 8 of 13 shots. He was 13 of 14 on free throws.

Auburn 87, purdue 69 >> Johni Broome had 23 points and 11 rebounds in his return from a shoulder injury, and No. 2 Auburn beat No. 16 Purdue.

Broome and the Tigers (11-1) dominated the Boilermakers (8-4) most of the way. The 6-foot-10 forward shot 10 for 15 in the game.

Tahaad Pettiford had 18 points and five assists for Auburn, which led by 33 points with seven minutes left.

C.J. Cox led Purdue with 16 points while Trey Kaufman-Renn had 15 points and eight rebounds.

duke 82, Georgia tech 56 >> Kon Knueppel scored 18 points, Cooper Flagg celebrated his 18th birthday by chipping in 13 and No. 5 Duke romped to victory over Georgia Tech.

The Blue Devils (10-2, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) led by double figures much of the game and dominated the second half against the Yellow Jackets (5-7, 0-2).

Knueppel led Duke’s freshmen class, which also got 15 points from Khaman Maluach.

Baye Ndongo led Georgia Tech with 14 points.

Florida 99, n. florida 45 >> Will Richard scored a career-high 26 points, three teammates notched double-doubles and No. 7 Florida remained undefeated with a victory over North Florida.

Richard made 9 of 12 shots from the floor, including 6 of 8 shots from 3-point range, and finished with five rebounds, two steals and two assists.

Sam Alexis chipped in 14 points and 12 rebounds. Alex Condon had 12 points and 10 boards. And Thomas Haugh finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds for Florida.

The Ospreys (7-6) lost for the fourth time in six outings in December and played their second straight game without leading scorer Josh Harris (ankle).

marquette 72, Xavier 70 >> Kam Jones scored 20 points and David Joplin added 19 as No. 9 Marquette overcame a late rally by Xavier.

Marquette (11-2, 2-0 Big East) led by as many as 15 points in the second half, but the Musketeers fought back with a 12-0 run to take a 64-63 lead with 2:07 left.

Marcus Foster led Xavier (8-5, 0-2 Big East) with 16 points.

uconn 78, butler 74 >> UConn’s Alex Karaban took matters into his own hands down the stretch as Butler refused to go away in a Big East battle in Indianapolis.

The Huskies (10-3, 2-0 Big East) never trailed in the 78-74 win, though Butler (7-6, 0-2 Big East) battled back to tie the game with under five minutes to go.

Karaban finished with a game-high 21 points and six rebounds, the team plus-18 when he was on the court.

Michigan state 86, fau 69 >> Michigan State had little trouble with Florida Atlantic, defeating the Owls in its final game before the holiday break behind 17 points from Coen Carr.

Guards Jaden Akins and Jeremy Fears Jr. scored 13 points apiece for the Spartans (10-2). Tre Carroll led Florida Atlantic (7-6) with a game-high 24 points.

By the time the first half ended, Michigan State maintained a 42-29 lead, with a 25-17 lead on the glass. In the second half, the Spartans outscored Florida Atlantic 44-40.

Women’s Top 25

USC 72, Uconn 70 >> JuJu Watkins scored 25 points and No. 7 USC (11-1) recovered from blowing a 18-point lead in the second half to beat Paige Bueckers and fourth-ranked UConn (10-2).

The game was a rematch of last season’s Elite Eight contest that the Huskies won. Bueckers finished with 22 points.

The Huskies had one last chance to tie when Strong was fouled shooting a 3-pointer with 5 seconds left. She made the first free throw, but missed the second. T

he freshman missed the third intentionally and UConn got the rebound, but a desperate heave at the buzzer was off.

south florida 65, duke 56, >> Sammie Puisis scored nine of her 23 points in the final seven minutes to help South Florida upset ninth-ranked Duke.

L’or Mputu had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulls (7-6), who led by as many as 23 in the first half. Duke (10-3) whittled away at the deficit, pulling within 42-39 on Taina Mair’s 3-pointer in the first minute of the fourth quarter.

USF also got 10 points apiece from Vittoria Blasigh and Carla Brito.

Toby Fournier led Duke with 11 points and eight rebounds.