[llperez]

 20 hours to go and im so hyped for this game. this will be the third straight year these two programs have played going 1-1 the past 2 seasons. Both teams are undefeated to start year and the wildcats are ranked #1 in nation while the bruins are ranked #9. The wildcats have played 1 ranked opponent so far in michigan st while the bruins have yet to play vs a ranked team with texas AM probably toughest opponent so far. Should be a great game at rupp arena tommorow at 9:30 am on cbs

Here are some team stats:

ppg: UK-95.6…UCLA-97

fg%: UK-49.6…UCLA: 55.3

ft%: UK 71.1…UCLA: 74.8

3pt%: UK: 32.3…UCLA: 45.6

Some of the individual top players for each team and prospects to look out for:

KENTUCKY WILDCATS

malik monk: 19.3ppg…48fg%…38#pt%…2.9rpg…2.7apg…2to

deaaron fox: 15.3ppg…44%fg…13%3pt…5.7rpg…7.6apg…2.7to

bam adebayo: 11.1ppg…57%fg…7.6rpg…1.1apg…1,6bpg…1.3to

isaiah broscoe: 18.4ppg…56%fg…33%3pt…3.4rpg…3.4apg…2to

,

UCLA BRUINS

lonzo ball: 14.6ppg…58%fg…47%3pt…4.9rpg…9.7apg…2.3to

isaac ahmilton: 18ppg…51%fg…44%3pt…3.8rpg…3.5apg…2.5to

tj leaf: 17.3ppg…69%fg…50%3pt…9rpg…2.5apg…1.4blk

bryce alford: 15.5ppg…45%fg…42%3pt…2.8rpg…3apg…1to

aaron holiday: 12.9ppg…52%fg…52%3pt…3.8rpg…4.1apg…2.5to

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[losnopesosParticipant]

UK lost to UCLA last year, Rupp will be sold out and electric, and early enough that the kids won’t be passed out yet.  I haven’t seen much of the Bruins but UK looks so tough this year.  Three point defense (UCLA’s primary strength) is the only weakness I’ve seen so far.  I’d say UK -14.

[Bankroll PJParticipant]

 This game has a lot of matchups that I’m looking forward to watch

Lonzo Ball vs Deaaron Fox: two highly touted one and done guards going at it. 

Bryce Alford vs Malik Monk: Monk is obviosly, the better NBA prospect, but I’m interested to see how he defends against a confident shooter like Alford who can heat up quickly. 

Isaac Hamilton vs Isaiah Briscoe: I think this matchup will be the X-factor in the game. Both of these guys are very important for their respective teams and impact the game in many ways 

TJ Leaf vs Wenyan Gabriel: Both of these guys are quietly having good season and look like future pros.  Leaf is putting up good numbers in both scoring and rebounding and Gabriel has been very effective in a lesser role for UK as a glue guy. 

Thomas Welsch vs Bam Adebayo: Interested to see how Bam plays against someone bigger than him. I don’t think Bam will have problems on the boards, but want to how finish in the paint with a 7fter around.

 

 

 

 

[SubZeroParticipant]

The Fox-Ball matchup is gonna be so interesting. I haven’t seen much of anything about Ball’s defense, so I’ll be looking to see if he can slow Fox down. Fox’s defensive prowess is pretty well known so I’ll also be just as interested to see if he can slow him down. Obviously as a UK fan I’d love to see Fox dominate, but the basketball/draft lover in me wants to see a good game too. This will be both teams’ first real test of the season

Also, throwback to 2014 when we got up 24-0 and led 41-7 at halftime. I had to bring it up lol

[losnopesosParticipant]

I don’t think that any guard in America can survive Fox/Briscoe/Hawkins guarding in rotation.  IMO Hawkins is a key cog to winning #9 because he’s five more fouls, and his raison d’etre will be to wear down the opposing team’s best guard. 

[SubZeroParticipant]

Yeah sometimes I get nervous when he comes in but he surprises me sometimes. He could potentially be the Darius Miller of this team along with Derek Willis

[Chilbert arenasParticipant]

Two years in a row theyre playing on my birthday! Bring me another gift Bruins! 

[losnopesosParticipant]

 Not today, Hibachi!  No way UCLA is stealing one in Rupp 🙂

[llperez]

 close first half, 49-45 ucla up but UK probably lked the majority of the first half at one point getting a 9 point lead

both teams getting mostly what they want on offense. UCLA too many turnovers and giving up too many drives into paint. I am happy with the way we are taking care of baords though, no second chances for UK. Holiday and leaf two most impressive players for ucla

 

[llperez]

 i understand home crowds and how they work, but these UK fans are booing every single play they dont think goes there way, i mean 100% clean defensive block right there where even the players are just running back and you would think hilary just showed up at a trump rally with all the booing going on. 

[alex23Participant]

 TJ Leaf at this rate will play himself into the first round this year. Extremely smart, skilled, very mobile, and very aware.

[llperez]

 leaf has been best bruin this game and this season by a mile, not close

[llperez]

 good game, thanks for trying kentucky, well take that #1 from you two years in row.

[SubZeroParticipant]

You can take it. I’m never happy about losing but it needed to happen because things have been too easy and unfortunately needs to happen for us at some point every year. As long as we get better from it, this loss will mean nothing for us

[ChewyParticipant]

 The thing that stood out the most to me is how quickly both teams could get out on the break. Neither team was being lazy with their transition D and still both teams got good shots and 1 v1 opportunities from pushing the pace. It wasn’t the wild unorganized run and gun of AAU, but an organized systematic pushing of the basketball that would crush any half lazy teams. I can see both these teams being on the winning side of more than a few blowouts. Both teams can put up points so quickly.

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

 Great win for UCLA. Ball didn’t have a great game but made some big plays when he needed to. I still think he settles for jumpers too much when his real strength is his ability to get into the paint and create open shots for teammates. He also kind of look rattled early on but settled down in the second half. Tj leaf was really the difference maker for them in this game. His toughness on the glass and ability to be a pressure release guy and make plays was key.

Briscoe did not play well at all for Kentucky and the weaknesses in his game were definitely highlighted in this one. You can tell he just doesn’t have any confidence in his jumper and he kept trying to drive the ball when there was no lane available. The freshman actually all were very impressive for Kentucky. It was the upperclassmen that didn’t really come to play. 

 

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