UCLA stunningly hands No. 1 Kentucky its first loss
LOS ANGELES — Breaking down UCLA's 87-77 upset victory against No. 1 Kentucky on Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion:
HOW THE BRUINS WON: In a battle of two of college basketball's greatest bluebloods, UCLA controlled the game's tempo from the start and never let Kentucky get close, riding the home crowd energy in the same building it lost to mid-major Monmouth in its season-opener. The Wildcats had several attempts to slice into UCLA's lead but struggled to hit momentum-shifting shots to counter the Bruins' potent and consistent offensive play, as all five UCLA starters reached double-figures.
“We knew no one in the world was giving us a chance, but we believed in ourselves,” junior guard Bryce Alford said.
Tyler Ulis, who played through an elbow injury and finished with nine points and nine assists, makes Kentucky (7-1) a much better team. But unlike the return of North Carolina's All-American point guard Marcus Paige — which resulted in a win against No. 2 Maryland — the Wildcats are not a team with a true identity yet. Ulis' impact was felt, but his injury clearly affected his shooting ability (he finished 2-for-12 from the field). The Wildcats looked much better than they did Monday in an ugly home win against Illinois State. However, UCLA (5-3) rose to the occasion on this night and looked like a much more developed team, while playing with a noticeable edge and getting almost every 50-50 ball.
“Their coach out-coached our coach,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said. “Their guards out-hustled our guards to extra balls. They executed better than us. …Their bigs outplayed us.”
WHAT THIS MEANS IN A NUTSHELL: For starters, it means the Wildcats are not the best team in the country. It took Kentucky until April to lose its first game last season. The Wildcats' first loss of the 2015-16 season came much sooner here in early December. “We learned that anybody can beat us," Ulis said. "We can’t just win on talent. We have to work hard.”
The road loss won't drastically stain the résumé, but it showed just how young and vulnerable this Kentucky team is. It also illustrates how different these teams are from last December when Kentucky throttled the Bruins by 39 points in Chicago, a game where Alford said "we got smacked last year," which served as motivation.
In a wide-open Pac-12 in which no dominant team has emerged, the Bruins showed they have as good of a shot at winning the league title as any team, whether it be Oregon, Arizona, Cal or Utah. And this win will certainly boost their NCAA tournament credentials for seeding in the eyes of the selection committee. Lastly, this is a program-boosting win that bodes well for recruiting and keeps UCLA in the "elite" conversation. Fans temporarily stormed the court afterwards, reminding those watching just how big of a win it was.
“It’s not like we’ve gotten off to a blazing start this year, but we’re growing,” said Alford, whose team fell to Wake Forest and lost to Kansas by 19 in the Maui Invitational. “I think we’re going to build a lot of confidence and trust out of this.”
STAR WATCH: The Bruins' frontcourt was the difference-maker here, and the unexpected boost Thomas Welsh provided in the paint — 21 points, 11 rebounds — was pivotal. He scored in a variety of ways, finishing 8-for-11 from the field and outplaying Kentucky's talented big men, namely highly-touted freshman Skal Labissiere. “Their inability to stop Thomas was huge,” Alford said.
Tony Parker also played well, finishing with 11 points. It wasn't as if the guards played poorly, though. This was a collaborative effort in many ways. Bryce Alford, Isaac Hamilton and Aaron Holiday combined for 40 points and kept Kentucky's guards on their toes all night.
Kentucky guard Isaiah Briscoe was really the only bright spot for the Wildcats, finishing with 20 points. Fellow freshman Jamal Murray finished with 17, but did it on 5-for-16 shooting from the floor.
THE HIGHLIGHT REEL: Kentucky has a plethora of talented freshmen with NBA potential. UCLA freshman Prince Ali won the night, however, with this thunderous, posterizing dunk.
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KEY STAT: UCLA shot 52.8% from the field and 45.5% from beyond the arc as the Bruins led by double figures for all but 62 seconds in the second half. Kentucky, meanwhile, shot 37.9% from the field (its worst all season), including 8-of-25 from three-point range.
INJURY NOTE: The Wildcats lost starting forward Marcus Lee, who suffered a head injury in the first half and didn’t return. Calipari called it "no excuse."
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