NEW ORLEANS _ With Kentucky having perhaps the least experienced team in college basketball history, John Calipari kept reminding anyone who would listen: this season would not be without growing pains.
Perhaps the basketball gods nodded approval that such a game came in the city known as The Big Easy.
A half-empty Smoothie King Arena, home of the NBA's New Orleans Pelicans, served as the setting for a discordant Kentucky performance. Seventh-ranked UK lost, 83-75, to UCLA despite runs of 13-0 in the first half and 13-2 in the second half.
Late in the first half saw an especially frenetic trip down court for Kentucky. One, two, three times the Cats drove to the basket with purpose and get-out-of-the-way determination.
After the third miss, Sacha Killeya-Jones grabbed a UCLA player around the shoulders and pulled him to the court. Message: UK would compete.
Perhaps not-so-incidentally, the sequence came late in a 13-0 run that gave Kentucky its largest first-half lead: 34-28.
Such zeal came and went in a first half that ended with what seemed like a fitting score: 39-39.
UCLA (9-3) had the initiative early. As UK (9-2) settled for jumpers, the Bruins did the driving.
Earlier in the week, the Bruins' Thomas Welsh spoke of the importance of setting a tone in the first five minutes.
"I think it's huge in any game, especially against Kentucky," he said of a good start. "The first five minutes usually sets the tone. That's when you find out (the opponent) is aggressive, not aggressive. Kind of what they're bringing to the table. The first five minutes we're going to have to be swinging hard and be ready."
Two substitutes _ Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Wenyen Gabriel (16 points) _ changed the tone of the game with aggressive play.
Later, PJ Washington ripped a rebound from senior Ikenna Okwarabizie and dunked.
Hamidou Diallo, who led UK with 18 points, highlighted the 13-0 run with a breakaway dunk.
Late the half, UCLA switched to a zone defense. That seemed to drain the aggressiveness from UK, which had only one basket in the final three minutes: a put-back by Kevin Knox (15 points).
UCLA got off well in the second half. Back-to-back 3s put UK down 45-39 and prompted a timeout with 18:36 left.
The timeout did not make an immediate difference. Quade Green turned the ball over, leading to a breakaway layup.
A 3-pointer by Prince Ali put UCLA ahead 50-39 with 17:47 left. That marked the first double-digit lead for either team.
A switch to a zone defense seemed to befuddle UCLA. The Bruins went scoreless for more than two and a half minutes.
Meanwhile, Kentucky scored nine straight points to inspire a Go Big Blue chant and, more importantly, get back into the game.
Both teams had to show resolve. In one stretch of less than two minutes, UK and UCLA each made a pair of 3s. This back-to-back-to-back-to-back exchange left Kentucky facing a 64-59 deficit with less than 11 minutes left.
Aaron Holiday and Kris Wilkes scored 20 points apiece for UCLA.
