UCLA upsets No. 7 Kentucky in CBS Sports Classic

Aaron Holiday had 20 points and eight assists to lead the UCLA Bruins over the No. 7 Kentucky Wildcats 83-75 on Saturday in the CBS Sports Classic at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, La.

Kris Wilkes matched Holiday with 20 points to lead UCLA, and center Thomas Welsh added 13 points and 10 rebounds in the win, which improved the Bruins to 9-3 on the season.

Kentucky (9-2) used a 13-0 run to take the lead late in the first half, then UCLA rallied to tie the game at the break. The Bruins scored the first 11 points of the second half to cap a 16-0 run of their own, only to see the Wildcats tie things up with a 13-2 run of their own.

A 10-0 run by UCLA gave the Bruins a lead they would never relinquish.

Hamidou Diallo led Kentucky with 18 points in defeat, and Wenyen Gabriel added 16 points and six rebounds, nailing 3-of-4 three-pointers.

This was the fifth meeting between these two schools in the last four seasons, with UCLA winning three of the five games. The two schools have met in each of the last four Decembers, and Kentucky beat the Bruins in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in 2017.

UCLA-Kentucky was the second of two games in the CBS Sports Classic, with No. 5 North Carolina beating Ohio State 86-72 earlier on Saturday in New Orleans.