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NEW YORK (AP) -- It was only Nov. 10 and UCLA already had a must-win victory under its belt.
|  | | UCLA's Jason Kapono, right, tries a wraparound pass against Kentucky's Jason Parker. Kapono led the Briuns with 21 points. |
The Bruins (No. 19 ESPN/USA Today poll, No. 17 AP) blew a seven-point lead over the final 4½ minutes of regulation, then hung on to beat No. 12 Kentucky 97-92
in overtime Friday night in the third-place game of the Coaches vs. Cancer IKON Classic.
Jason Kapono had 21 points on 5-for-7 shooting from 3-point range for the Bruins (1-1), who lost 99-98 to Kansas (No. 6, No. 7) in the opening round.
"That was a great learning experience for our team, both the
bitter defeat last night and the hard-fought victory," UCLA coach
Steve Lavin said. "This can be one of those coming-of-age games
that can make or break a team. We did not want make that trip back
to Los Angeles 0-2."
Kapono fouled out with 3:35 to play and his long-range shooting
-- he was 6-for-9 on 3s in the opener for 22 points -- was sorely
missed as UCLA scored just three points in the final 4½ minutes of
regulation.
Kentucky, which started a season 0-2 for the first time since
1975-76, closed regulation with a 10-3 run to make it 77-77.
"We could have gotten really demoralized going into overtime," Lavin said. "But we kept our composure, realized we had some problems and got a victory."
Tayshaun Prince made two free throws with 24 seconds left to tie it, and UCLA's Earl Watson brought the ball down and held it until about 10 seconds remained. Covered by Prince, Watson drove and pulled up for a jumper, seeming to cause Prince to land on him but the shot missed and no foul was called.
"I wan't trying to act my way to the foul line," Watson said.
"There definitely was some contact, but I laughed it off with
Tayshaun."
The Wildcats, who lost 62-61 to St. John's on a poor defensive play with five seconds to go Thursday night, scored the first three points of the overtime but the Bruins then went on an 11-0 run.
Kentucky failed to score on five consecutive possessions and
UCLA responded each time with at least one point. T.J. Cummings'
turnaround jumper gave UCLA the lead for good at 82-80 with 2:52
left and Ray Young scored the next five points for the Bruins,
including a 3-pointer with 2:07 left that made it 85-80.
Three-pointers by Prince and Saul Smith got Kentucky within two
at 91-89 with 19 seconds left, but UCLA went 4-for-7 from the
free-throw line and got a breakaway dunk from Cummings to seal it.
"That was a tough devastating loss to lose the way we did to
St. John's and I'm proud of my guys for the way they came back
against UCLA," Kentucky coach Tubby Smith said. "We had some
chances, we got to overtime. But we had the same problems with our
transition defense in both games."
Watson, who had nine assists and no turnovers, and Young each
had 20 points for UCLA, which hasn't started a season with two
losses since 1961-62. Dan Gadzuric had 16 points and 14 rebounds.
Cummings, who set the record for points by a UCLA freshman in
his first game with 24, finished with eight on 3-for-10 shooting.
"We knew if we got another chance we could play better than the first 40 minutes," Young said. "We seemed a lot more fresh in the overtime than Kentucky."
Keith Bogans had 25 points for Kentucky, while Prince had 13.
Prince again struggled with his outside shooting, going 2-for-8
from beyond the arc after missing all six of his 3-point attempts
in the opener.
"I believe we can shoot a lot better," Smith said. "It's four
months until the SEC tournament, so we have to correct our mistakes
and fix our problems and we'll be a pretty good team."
Duke lost both its games in this tournament last season then went on to win 18 straight and was ranked No. 1 going into the NCAA Tournament.
"I hope we can do the same," Smith said of Duke's rebound last season. "These players realize what they have to do and that's what I want them to believe, to know it takes time."
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Katz: Coaches vs. Cancer a sizzling start
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Matt Barnes takes the steal downcourt for the slam.
avi: 741 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Dan Gadzuric scores on the put-back for the Bruins.
avi: 1016 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Marvin Stone is there for the tip-in.
avi: 773 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Keith Bogans follows-up Jason Parkers' missed shot.
avi: 594 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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