UCLA reestablishes its elite identity with hard-fought win over Kentucky
NEW YORK — Any doubts about their being a top team were left in Las Vegas.
Wilting under pressure? For a month now, the UCLA Bruins have made the plays they couldn’t late in losses to Illinois and Baylor.
Can’t get the needed stops? These Bruins produce more steals than a crime drama.
Not tough enough? Did you see Jaylen Clark in the final moments Saturday?
About an hour after getting smacked in the face by Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe, leaving a swollen lower lip that briefly forced him out of the game, Clark delivered the knockout blow.
UCLA’s top defender anticipated a pass toward the wing, reaching out with his left arm to poke the ball into the open court. Collecting his steal near midcourt, Clark raced toward the basket for a breakaway dunk that he celebrated by flexing as he howled in delight.
“I looked up and saw there was 20 seconds left and we’re up like eight, nine,” Clark said. “It’s over.”
No. 16 UCLA took Manhattan on Saturday with a 63-53 victory over No. 13 Kentucky in the CBS Sports Classic. Here are five takeaways from the Bruins’ win.
It was clear by then that the Bruins’ trip to the East Coast was a roaring success. All one had to do was listen.
In the final minute, a “U-C-L-A!” chant filled Madison Square Garden. Bruins fans heavily outnumbered by their Wildcats counterparts had the final say after No. 16 UCLA polished off a 63-53 victory over No. 13 Kentucky that completed a two-game sweep of nationally ranked teams.
Point guard Tyger Campbell slammed the ball high off the court in excitement after the Bruins (10-2) withstood what coach Mick Cronin called “a bloodbath” to notch their seventh consecutive win. Cronin flashed a fours-up sign to fans on his way off the court after his team’s defense made the Wildcats miss their last 11 shots while holding them scoreless over the final 4 minutes 31 seconds.
Thanks, Illinois?
“The Illinois game was the best thing to ever happen to us — it’s made us grow, just the embarrassment factor,” Clark said of losing a 15-point lead in the second half to the Fighting Illini in front of a neutral-site crowd awash in orange. “We feel like they walked into the West Coast and just took it over, so for March Madness reasons we knew we couldn’t come out here and afford to lose any games if we wanted to be seeded high.”
After following a 27-point blowout of No. 20 Maryland with another superb showing against the Wildcats (7-3), UCLA figures to move into the top 10 in the rankings and rise a few spots on the seed lines of NCAA tournament prognosticators.
Playing like a first-team All-American against the Wildcats, Jaime Jaquez Jr. logged 19 points with 12 rebounds, four assists and four steals. Clark was strong across the board with 15 points, eight rebounds, four steals and two assists for the Bruins, who forced 18 turnovers and outshot the Wildcats, 45.8% to 32.8%.
Repeatedly unveiling a combination of stifling defense and reliable shot-making, the Bruins have shown they possess multiple ways to win.
“You’ve got to be hard to score on,” Cronin said. “So we’ve got to a point where our guys are embracing that. They know we’re going to go win the game with defense [and] if we have a great night offensively, we’ll win by 20. But we’re going to win one way or the other.”
There was high drama when Kentucky’s Sahvir Wheeler made a jumper to pull his team within 55-53 with 4:31 left. They would be the Wildcats’ last points.
Campbell (15 points) countered with a tough floater in the lane and reserve forward Mac Etienne and Clark each added a free throw before Campbell made a driving layup to push the lead to 61-53. Clark’s steal and dunk were the exclamation point.
Etienne, a New York native, also blocked a Tshiebwe shot and grabbed five rebounds to help his foul-plagued team in front of friends and family. Tshiebwe’s 16 rebounds couldn’t give his team an edge in that department after the Bruins snagged one more rebound than the Wildcats.
Clark said his team has been driven by the knowledge that this is probably the last run for the remaining players from the 2021 Final Four in addition to freshmen Amari Bailey and Adem Bona, who could be headed to the NBA after one college season.
They’re trying to savor every moment along the way. Shrugging off the rain and bitter cold that greeted them here, the Bruins toured the ice-skating rink and giant Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center in addition to the original Saks Fifth Avenue.
The highlight came Saturday evening. Cheers from UCLA’s locker room could be heard far down a hallway inside the old arena, a soundtrack preferable to the voluble rant Cronin delivered last month after the loss to Baylor. His team hasn’t lost since.
“It just put an edge on our shoulder,” Jaquez said of the losses in Vegas. “We had a lot to prove this trip, we knew that we dropped two in Vegas and we knew we’re a much more capable team than we showed, and we were just on a mission to get better every single day and prepare for this, and just show the world what we can do.”
Go beyond the scoreboard
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