Li for 3: Men’s basketball match against Kentucky important, but not decisive

Chances are No. 11 UCLA won’t upset No. 1 Kentucky for the second year in a row – It might even be a blowout loss.

And you know what? That’s perfectly fine.

“It’s not a make or break thing,” said coach Steve Alford. “It’s early December, but it does become a great test for our team this early in the season.”

All the ingredients are there for one of the marquee matchups of the young college basketball season. Both the Bruins (8-0) and the Wildcats (7-0) boast perfect records coming into the game, and the two teams will be running fast and scoring furiously.

UCLA ranks third in the nation in points per game wth 97.0 and 17th in pace – an estimated 77.6 possessions per 40 minutes. Kentucky matches with 95.6 points per game good for fourth in the nation and ninth in pace – 78.6 possessions.

Both feature top freshmen guards leading the offense – Lonzo Ball for the Bruins and the dynamic duo of De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk for the Wildcats. All three are projected to be top-10 picks in the NBA Draft come June.

And yet, all the ingredients are there for UCLA to pick up its first loss of the season.

For one, Kentucky is a great team and should be national championship contenders once again, come March. Alford has said time and time again this season that the Bruins are a good team trying to be great.

This could be a good barometer to see how close UCLA is to being great. However, this is also UCLA’s first road game of the season, and the Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky is as hostile an environment as there is in the country.

For a team led in overall plus-minus by two freshmen Ball and forward TJ Leaf, that could spell trouble. Ball had hundreds of fans at exhibition games in Australia this summer, so this could be his first true taste in hostility.

Let’s not forget about rest. While the Wildcats have been sitting at home after playing at Arizona State this Monday, the Bruins are on the tail end of a hectic week.

UCLA played three games in four nights last Thursday through Sunday en route to a Wooden Legacy championship in Anaheim, then had to turn around and play a game against UC Riverside this Wednesday. The Bruins hopped on a cross-country flight Thursday to prepare for a game that tips off Saturday at 9:30 a.m. Los Angeles time. To top it off, these UCLA student-athletes have just started finals week.

It’ll be hard to blame them for a flat start.

Even if the Bruins get run out of the building, all is not lost. UCLA would get its first humbling taste of a hostile environment, and the game film would undoubtedly teach them much more than any tape from their blowout wins can.

“It’s another basketball game, it’s a regular season game,” Ball said, downplaying the importance of the matchup. “It’s not going to make or break the season, but obviously you want to play against the best. Right now, they’re the best so it should be fun.”

As long as the Bruins avoid a meltdown like the 41-7 halftime score two years ago against the Wildcats, let’s not read too much into the result.

Instead, just sit back and enjoy what should be a high-scoring, high-flying and highlight-packed show.