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UCLA junior guard Brian Morrison struggles to get past a Kentucky player in a narrow 52-50 loss t

ANAHEIM — At least for one half, reality set in for UCLA as it reverted to last-season form for a national television audience and former coach John Wooden to see.

But although the Bruins trailed by as many as 17 points and never led in the contest, they saved face by actually putting up a fight before falling 52-50 to No. 9 Kentucky on Saturday in the Wooden Classic at Arrowhead Pond.

It was enough to at least somewhat satisfy first-year Bruin coach Ben Howland.

“I’m not into moral victories. At the end of the day, it’s a loss,” Howland said. “But I am into learning from your experiences, getting better and improving this team. Our team really showed a lot of heart to be able to fight back from that deficit.”

Maybe the 10:30 a.m. tip-off was too early for the Bruins, because by the time they had woken up and rubbed their eyes, the scoreboard read KU 23, UCLA 6. The Wildcats scored the game’s first seven points, and their pressing defense held the Bruins to just a 24 percent field goal percentage in the first half.

UCLA’s lack of depth, which may turn out to be the team’s fatal flaw this season, was exposed when their two 7-footers – sophomores Michael Fey and Ryan Hollins – each picked up two fouls in the first four minutes of play.

Foul trouble and all, with a lineup that was still missing forwards Trevor Ariza (collapsed lung) and T.J. Cummings (academics), only seven Bruins ended up playing, with just the starting five doing all the scoring.

Hollins, whose dunk cut the lead to two before Kentucky ran out the final 5.6 seconds of the game, finished with 10 points, and was one of only three Bruins to score by halftime.

The other two got their only rest at the half. Point guard Cedric Bozeman, who had five of UCLA’s 11 first-half turnovers, ended up playing all 40 minutes of the game. Forward Dijon Thompson, who had team-highs with 14 points and eight rebounds, played 39 minutes.

Considering all of this, it was a wonder UCLA (2-1) was down just 27-17 at halftime. Kentucky (4-0) only shot 29 percent from the field in the half and ended up at 27 percent for the game.

“We weren’t really focused on the score,” UCLA guard Brian Morrison said. “We just wanted to play defense, get stops and get buckets.”

Morrison and Bozeman combined to shut down Kentucky guard Gerald Fitch, who came into the game as the Wildcats’ leading scorer with 24 points per game. Fitch, who banged up his knee in practice Friday, finished with just five points on 1-for-10 shooting.

“We gave ourselves a chance to win because we defended,” Howland said. “We didn’t do much else, but we did do the job defensively.”

It was Morrison who blocked a Fitch jumper and subsequently scored on a fast break three-point play that highlighted an 8-0 run, cutting the Kentucky lead to 36-33 with 7:45 remaining in the game.

“That was a big play,” Hollins said. “It brought energy to us and we just lifted off of it.”

But Bruins’ hopes of completing the comeback would come crashing down.

UCLA failed to score on its next two possessions, and Fitch hit a three-pointer, his only field goal of the game, to push the lead up to 41-33.

The Bruins never did get a potential game-tying possession. Their best chance came when they were down 49-46 and Fitch missed the front end of a one-and-one, but Antwain Barbour came from behind to poke the rebound away from Fey with 29.7 seconds left.

Guard Cliff Hawkins, who was held to 2-for-11 shooting while suffering from the flu, made two free throws and then sank one more with 13.6 seconds to give Kentucky a 52-48 lead.

“We have a lot of improving to do if we’re going to be able to compete in the Pac-10,” Howland said.