UNC Basketball: Tar Heels set for primetime powerhouse matchups

The UNC basketball program will continue its annual non-conference series against perennial powers Kentucky, Ohio State and UCLA in CBS Sports Classic.

The North Carolina Tar Heels will be back in the CBS Sports Classic in 2020, 2021 and 2022 along with the Kentucky Wildcats, Ohio State Buckeyes and UCLA Bruins, according to CBS college basketball insider Jon Rothstein.

The annual event, which features each of the four teams involved facing each other on a rotating basis at a neutral site, began in 2014 when the Tar Heels took on the Buckeyes at the United Center in Chicago. The Tar Heels won that game by a final score of 82-74, and they’ve compiled a 4-2 overall record in the event.

They’ve won both games they’ve played against the Buckeyes, and both matchups with the Bruins. They’ve lost both contests with the Wildcats, however, including a 103-100 thriller in December 2016. Kentucky freshman Malik Monk poured in 47 points for the game, out-dueling North Carolina’s Justin Jackson, who scored a team-high 34. That game, of course, came just months before the classic Elite 8 matchup between the two teams that was won on a last-second shot by UNC sophomore forward Luke Maye.

Rothstein also reported that North Carolina will take on Kentucky next year, and UCLA in 2022. He did not mention future sites for the event, though it’s likely that pervious sites such as Chicago, New York, Las Vegas and New Orleans will be used again. No dates have been set for the event this year, or in the following years, but a mid-to-late December time frame has consistently been the case in years past.

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