Holiday offers no breaks to Wildcats
NEW ORLEANS — UCLA guard Aaron Holiday delivered a steadying performance on the basketball court and a clutch finish to a made-for-TV Christmas weekend event.
And he did it in the same arena where his brother, Jrue Holiday, plays home games in the NBA — albeit to the disappointment of a decidedly pro-Kentucky crowd.
Holiday capped a 20-point performance with a pivotal driving scoop and two free throws in the final 33 seconds to help the Bruins upset No. 7 Kentucky 83-75 on Saturday in the CBS Sports Classic.
“It’s always special when you can play where your brother’s played,” Holiday said. “Obviously, he’s doing really well right now (with the New Orleans Pelicans), so that’s good. But just to get the win out here, it’s just awesome.”
Kris Wilkes also scored 20 points, and Thomas Welsh added 13 points and 11 rebounds for UCLA (9-3), which won for the seventh time in 15 meetings between these historical college basketball powerhouses.
Bruins coach Steve Alford thought the victory was an important step for a squad relying on freshmen like Wilkes and some returning players who didn’t experience many on-court minutes last season.
“It’s good for them to see that, you know what, we can win a game like this,” Alford said. “If we keep growing, we could be pretty good.” Hamidou Diallo scored 18 points and Wenyen Gabriel added a season-high 16 points for Kentucky (9-2), which lost for the first time in eight games.
“We’re better than this,” said coach John Calipari, who harped on his players’ poor decisions and inconsistency. “Maybe it was Christmas, but (UCLA) didn’t have that issue, and they flew from across the country. And hats off to them. They played well. They made shots they had to make. They made free throws they had to make.”
Kevin Knox had 15 points for Kentucky on an array of perimeter shots and slashing dunks, but the Wildcats didn’t shoot well overall. They went 6-of-21 from 3-point range and were outshot overall, 47.5 percent (29-of-61) to 42.6 percent (29-of -68). Kentucky hit only two of 10 3-point shots in the first half and finished the game with 14 turnovers, committing nine in the second half.
Jaylen Hands, who scored 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting, and Prince Ali, who had 12 points while going 4-for-7 from the field, gave the Bruins the balanced, efficient scoring they needed to hold off explosive but inconsistent Kentucky.
“It’s always special when you can play where your brother’s played ... to get the win out here, it’s just awesome.”
– AARON HOLIDAY