Kentucky basketball falls to UCLA in CBS Sports Classic

The Kentucky basketball team fell to the UCLA Bruins 83-75 in the CBS Sports Classic.

UCLA knocked down 12 three-point shots to fuel their victory over the Kentucky basketball team in the CBS Sports Classic. The Bruins were led by junior guard Aaron Holiday who finished with 20 points. Freshman Kris Wilkes also added 20 in the Bruins 83-75 upset of the Wildcats. Kentucky was led by Hamidou Diallo‘s 18 points.

First Half

The first five minutes of the game saw a lot of buckets in transition, including a beautiful alley oop from Quade Green to Kevin Knox. However, UCLA used an 8-0 run to grab the early lead 15-11. The Cats were cold from beyond the arc early, hitting only 2-of-10 in the first half. Kentucky finished 6-of-21 from three-point territory. UCLA’s Aaron Holiday on the other hand was hot early knocking down from three-point range and scoring 10 points in the first half.

Kentucky used a 13-0 run later in the first half, which included a Diallo fast-break dunk, to take 34-26 lead over the Bruins. During that run the Wildcat defense was stout, forcing 4 turnovers. The Wildcats dominated the offensive glass, grabbing 12 rebounds on their own end of the court.

UCLA closed the half on a 10-2 run capped off by Kris Wilkes‘ 5 points in the final 1:11 of the first half of play. At halftime the Wildcats and Bruins were tied 39-39.

Second Half

UCLA knocked down two three-pointers early in the second half to take a six point lead. A fast-break layup for Holiday and a corner three-point make by Prince Ali would extend the lead to 11. Shai-Gilgeous Alexander‘s teardrop, a Knox three-pointer and a mid-range jumper by Diallo shrunk the Bruins’ lead to 4. Knox then punctuated a 9-0 UK run with a thunderous dunk.

An 8-0 run midway through the second half led to a 10 point lead for the Bruins at the under-eight minute timeout. Two free throws by Holiday put the Bruins up 71-59. PJ Washington’s coast-to-coast bucket put an end to the drought and brought the Cats to within 9. A controversial change of possession, followed by a putback layup from Wenyen Gabriel made the score 71-64. Gabriel had his best game of the year with 16 points and 6 rebounds.

A 10-2 run late in the game brought the Kentucky basketball team to within 4. However, UCLA pulled away late, made their foul shots and put the game out of reach. Green had an off-night hitting only 1-of-7 and scoring only 2 points.