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No. 11 UCLA stuns No. 1 Kentucky 97-92

By Darrell Bird, The Sports Xchange

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- No. 11 UCLA used 10 3-pointers and 53 percent shooting to upset No. 1 Kentucky, 97-92, on Saturday at Rupp Arena.

The loss snapped a 42-game home winning streak for the Wildcats.

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"We proved that if you can run with this team, you can run with anybody," UCLA coach Steve Alford said. "We thought it would be a track meet and it was.

"But we made shots and if you can make shots in this environment against a team like this, it's very encouraging. It's a huge win for us."

The Bruins (9-0) pushed ahead for good during the last 3:18 of the first half and first 3:05 of the second half when they outscored Kentucky, 23-6.

An 11-2 burst to start the second half gave UCLA its biggest lead at the time, 13 points, as the Bruins were hitting 60 percent from the field.

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Senior guard Isaac Hamilton paced UCLA with 19 points, hitting 7 of 13 shots. Freshman forward T.J. Leaf added 17, junior center Thomas Welsh and freshman guard Lonzo Ball each had 14 points and senior guard Bryce Alford scored 11 as the Bruins put six players in double figures.

"The thing I'm most pleased about is that we came in here with a certain identity and we left here with that same identity just doing it against the No. 1 team in the country and by far the best team we've played," Alford said.

"We came in being a high-scoring team, a team that shares the ball, a team that puts six guys in double figures and we were able to do that again, and to do that in this building and against this team, that's very encouraging."

Kentucky (7-1) did mount a furious rally after trailing by 11 points with only 30 seconds left. The Wildcats went on a 9-1 run on 3-pointers from freshman guard De'Aaron Fox and senior forward Derek Willis and an old-fashion three-point play by freshman forward Bam Adebayo.

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But Alford hit two free throws with 7.4 seconds left to ice the win.

UCLA shot 53 percent, including 43.5 from 3-point range, for the game.

Kentucky, which shot a season-low 41 percent, got 24 points from freshman guard Malik Monk and 20 from Fox. Adebayo had 18 points and 13 rebounds, sophomore guard Isaiah Briscoe had 12 and scored Willis 11.

"This is a lesson for us," Kentucky coach John Calipari said. "We didn't have the energy. I had to call a timeout a minute into the game. I mean, just wasn't the same team.

"How about this one? We had 16 assists. Why didn't we pass it today? Because it was national television, it's my time? We all look bad."

UCLA held its biggest lead of the game at 76-62 with 9:32 remaining. At that point, the Bruins had outscored the Wildcats, 27-17, in the second half.

Kentucky and UCLA battled throughout the first half with the visiting Bruins holding a 49-45 advantage. Holiday led the way with 13 points as UCLA shot a sizzling 58.1 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range.

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Kentucky was paced by Fox with 12 points and Monk with nine points in the half. The Wildcats shot only 42.5 percent and 27.3 from 3-point range.

"There are great lessons out of this," Calipari said. "I wish we would have come back and won. But sometimes you need to get hit on the chin, especially at home."

NOTES: Kentucky and UCLA met for the third straight year on Saturday. In all three meetings, the Wildcats were ranked No. 1 in the AP poll. ... Despite the traditions of the two programs -- UCLA has 11 national titles, Kentucky has eight -- the Bruins had never played Kentucky at Rupp Arena until Saturday. ... Kentucky, ranked No. 1, and UCLA, ranked 11th, were two of only 11 undefeated teams remaining in the AP poll heading into Saturday's game. Now there are 10.

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