CHICAGO — It didn’t take long for No. 1 Kentucky to take control of the game.
Ninety-five seconds into game two of Saturday’s CBS Sports Classic in Chicago, UCLA found itself down 7-0, forcing coach Steve Alford to take a timeout.
The pep talk didn’t fix much, as the Bruins headed into halftime trailing the Wildcats 41-7.
Kentucky came out of the timeout and promptly scored another nine unanswered points before Alford stopped play again, UCLA trailing 16-0 less than four minutes into the game.
Four minutes later, Alford used his third timeout, with the Bruins trailing 24-0 after 7:22. This time, it finally worked, as freshman forward Kevon Looney scored UCLA’s first two points at the 12:17 mark after 17 straight misses.
The Bruins managed just two more baskets and one free throw through the final 12 minutes as the Wildcats blocked eight shots.
Kentucky finished the half shooting 46 percent to UCLA’s 8 percent.
Compiled by Kevin Bowman, Bruin Sports senior staff.