UCLA Men's Basketball Fends Off Kentucky, Claims Signature Win

It took a while to close it out, but the Bruins have another signature win under their belts.

No. 16 UCLA men's basketball (10-2, 2-0 Pac-12) held on to defeat No. 13 Kentucky (7-3, 0-0 SEC) by a score of 63-53 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. The Bruins have now won four straight regular season games against the Wildcats, a fellow ranked squad and blue blood program.

The Wildcats kept trying to claw their way back into things throughout the second half, but it was guard Jaylen Clark who got a steal and sprinted ahead for the dunk that iced it in the last minute. The Bruins ended the night on a 8-0 run, only extending their lead to double figures in the last 20 seconds.

UCLA actually led by more in the first half, building its lead to as many as 13 points in the opening frame, but Kentucky stayed in it with 3-pointers and offensive boards.

Guard Amari Bailey scored first, only for guard Carson Wallace to answer with a layup and a 3-pointer. The three-point lead the Wildcats held after Wallace's early triple turned out to be the only lead they would hold all night, as Clark scored to cut it down to one not long after and guard David Singleton drilled a 3-pointer to flip the scoreboard.

Neither side staged a significant run from there on out, but the Bruins did lean on guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. to drag them to a 33-20 lead. Jaquez scored six in a row on his own, and when the Wildcats staged a 7-0 run heading into halftime, the senior wing slashed their momentum by hitting a layup just before the buzzer.

Kentucky went on an 11-3 run to open the second half, tying the score at 38-38 as the teams approached the final stretch.

The scoring slowed, though, favoring UCLA, which entered the game 55-2 when limiting opponents to 65 or less under coach Mick Cronin.

The Bruins made it 46-40 after a Singleton 3-pointer, capping off a 6-0 run to create some much-needed separation. For the next seven minutes of game action, neither team strung together back-to-back scoring possessions.

Guard Sahvir Wheeler made it 55-53 with 4:31 left on the clock thanks to a jumper, but those were the last points the Wildcats scored.

Even though UCLA had four 1-for-2 trips to the charity stripe in the final seven minutes, their defense made sure the misses didn't cost them. Kentucky missed its final 11 shots and could not come through down the stretch.

The Bruins, meanwhile, slowly pulled away with those free throws and capped things off with buckets from guard Tyger Campbell and Clark in the final minute.

Jaquez led UCLA with 19 points, 12 rebounds and four steals. Clark also recorded four steals, in addition to his 15 points and eight rebounds, while Campbell also finished with 15.

Singleton actually led the Bruins with a plus-14 plus/minus, nailing both of his 3-point attempts to finish with eight points. Those four players outscored the Wildcats all on their own, combining for 57 points. As a team, UCLA had more rebounds, second chance points, points off turnovers, points in the paint and fast break points, and they led for 35:49 of the 40 minutes.

Reigning national player of the year Oscar Tshiebwe finished with eight points and 16 rebounds on 4-for-12 shooting in 39 minutes, marking one of his least efficient performances in nearly a year.

UCLA will wrap up nonconference play on Wednesday against UC Davis back at Pauley Pavilion before facing Washington State on the road Dec. 30.

In combination with their win at Maryland on Wednesday, the Bruins finished their East Coast road trip undefeated, and they are likely in play for a large jump up the rankings come Monday.

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