Kentucky vs. UCLA score, takeaways: No. 16 Bruins put improvement on display in win over No. 13 Wildcats

NEW YORK — No. 16 UCLA put its recent improvement on display during a national showcase opportunity as the Bruins downed No. 13 Kentucky 63-53 in the CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden. UCLA led by as many as 13 in the first half before Kentucky rallied to tie the game early in the second. From there, defense and timely buckets carried the Bruins to the finish line.

Jaime Jaquez Jr. led all scorers with 19 points for UCLA while Jaylen Clark and Tyger Campbell each contributed 15. Freshman wing Chris Livingston put Kentucky on his back early in the second half as he scored all but three of his career-high 14 points after the break. 

But even with UCLA big man Adem Bona in foul trouble, the Wildcats could not get star big man Oscar Tshiebwe going in the paint. The reigning National Player of the Year finished with eight points and 16 rebounds but made just 4 of 12 shots from the floor and missed all four of his free throw attempts.

The win improves UCLA to 10-2 after the Bruins drubbed No. 20 Maryland 87-60 on Wednesday. Kentucky fell to 7-3 with the loss.

UCLA turns a corner

When UCLA dropped back-to-back games against Illinois and Baylor during the Roman Main Event in November, the Bruins looked disorganized defensively and were called out for their poor play by coach Mick Cronin. Now, roughly a month later, they look like a different team. In their drubbing of the Terrapins earlier this week, UCLA jumped out to a 49-20 halftime lead on the road and coasted to a win. Against Kentucky on Saturday, the Bruins forced 12 turnovers in the first half while again taking command early.

Kentucky made its run early in the second half, but UCLA weathered it and held the Wildcats scoreless in the game's final 4:31. UK shot a season-worst 33% from the floor and just 30.3% in the second half. All of the sudden, UCLA's defense has transformed from a weakness into a strength.

Kentucky goes soft

Bona, UCLA's starting center, logged just 12 minutes as he remained in foul trouble throughout the contest. Bona did not score and finished with just four rebounds, though he did block two shots. His primary backup, Kenneth Nwuba, fouled out with just two points in 13 minutes of action. A third UCLA big man, Mac Etienne, avoided foul trouble but scored just one point in 13 minutes.

This should have been a game that Tshiebwe dominated on the inside. Instead, the Wildcats were outscored by 12 in the paint as Tshiebwe suffered through a brutal offensive night. If UCLA's strategy was to throw a parade of brawlers at Tshiebwe with no regard for foul trouble or offensive production, then the strategy worked. Without the steady source of offense that Tshiebwe typically provides, the Wildcats had nowhere to turn for buckets when they needed points in the second half.

Little from deep

UCLA entered ranked 328th of 363 teams in the percentage of points that it gets from beyond the 3-point line, per KenPom. The Bruins' standing in that metric figures to continue dropping after they made just 2 of 8 attempts from beyond the arc against Kentucky. Both of them came from David Singleton, who is 6 of 7 from deep off the bench for the Bruins over the past two games.

Over these two impressive wins against Maryland and Kentucky, the Bruins have made just seven total 3-pointers and only one of them have come from the starting lineup. This team is never going to light up opponents from deep, but UCLA will need to cultivate more sources of outside shooting as the season goes on if they are going to be dynamic enough to make a deep postseason run.

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UCLA gets it done

Final: UCLA 63, Kentucky 53

What an impressive win for the Bruins, who get it done with their defense. The starting lineup produced zero made 3-pointers, and a trio of post players provided basically nothing offensively. But those bigs did manage to frustrate Kentucky star Oscar Tshiebwe, who turned in a clunker. Offensively, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Tyger Campbell and Jaylen Clark came up with huge buckets in the second half as the trio of veterans helped guide UCLA to its second big win of the week.

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Down to the wire

Both teams have gone cold and we hit the u4 timeout with UCLA leading 57-53. Just 2:26 left as the Wildcats try and muster enough offense to complete the rally. Reeves and Wallace are a combined 4 of 24, which makes it remarkable that the Wildcats are even in this thing. Been a rough night from the field for everyone except Wheeler and Livingston on this UK team.

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Running thin

Nwuba just fouled out and Adem Bona has four. How Kentucky has not capitalized on this persistent foul trouble among UCLA's bigs is baffling. Mac Etienne has been the only UCLA player of any significant size able to play without fouling yet the Wildcats are being outscored in the paint and Oscar is just 4 of 11.

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Rough night

Oscar Tshiebwe is just 4 of 10 from the field and 0 for 4 from the free-throw line. He's got 8 points and 11 boards but hasn't been the impact player that Kentucky has needed against UCLA. The Bruins' bigs have been in foul trouble but UK hasn't capitalized. Wildcats will need sources of scoring other than Chris Livingston to pull this out down the stretch.

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UCLA back in command

The Bruins weathered the Kentucky storm and have retaken a 51-45 lead with 10:12 left. Chris Livingston is the only reason the Wildcats are in this game. He's got 11 of Kentucky's 18 points in the second half. Jaquez is up to 17 for UCLA, which hast just 2 makes from beyond the arc. Bruins shooting 60% from the floor.

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UCLA on its heels

Kenneth Nwuba has 4 fouls and Adem Bona has 3. Both are on the bench as Oscar Tshiebwe ties the game at 40-40. Wildcats are surging here behind Chris Livingston.

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Good start for Kentucky 

The Wildcats get a couple Livingston free throws and a Sahvir Wheeler 3-pointer to begin the second half. Then Livingston gets two more buckets. He's been good tonight and really good to start this half. Wildcats within 38-36 as "go big blue" rings out through the arena.

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UCLA's buckets

The Bruins are just 1 of 5 from deep and are outscoring Kentucky 20-12 in the paint. Surprising the way they've been able to break down UK defensively thus far. Kentucky is going to need to speed this thing up create some turnovers and some transition opportunities if it wants to come back and win this.

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UCLA up

Half: UCLA 35, Kentucky 27

Kentucky tried to make a little run just before half but Sahvir Wheeler ended up committing a turnover while trying to feed Oscar Tshiebwe in the post. Jaquez then gets a bucket on the other end to get the lead back to eight heading into the locker room. Jaquez has 12 points and Kentucky has 12 turnovers. Wildcats have just 12 points in the paint and weren't able to take advantage of early foul trouble for the UCLA bigs.

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Kentucky's offense

It's just not an aesthetically pleasing product. Wildcats are 9 of 27 from the floor. Oscar just got a bucket, though, as we hit the u4 timeout with the Bruins up 33-22. We'll see if that sparks something here to close the half. Nwuba and Bona are both on the bench with foul trouble. So It's Mac Etienne trying to handle Tshiebwe at the moment.

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UCLA looks good

The Bruins have picked up right where they left off at Maryland, looking good on both sides of the basketball. The Bruins have turned 10 Kentucky turnovers into 10 points and are 13 of 24 from the floor with 16 points in the paint. Wildcats just got a big 3 from Antonio Reeves to stop the bleeding but have yet to get Oscar particularly involved.

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Adem Bona

UCLA's starting big man has two early fouls, which is not ideal when it comes to defending Oscar Tshiebwe. The vet, Kenneth Nwuba, is in there now. We'll see if Kentucky starts feeding the beast.

December 17, 2022, 11:38 PM
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