UCLA starts conference play with momentum

UCLA Bruins guard Aaron Holiday #3 gets around Central Arkansas Bears guard Thatch Unruh #25 in the first half. UCLA played Central Arkansas in a mens basketball game at Pauley Pavilion in Westwood, CA 11/15/2017 (Photo by John McCoy, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

 

UCLA let a road win at Michigan get away two weeks ago. The Bruins didn’t repeat the mistake in New Orleans against Kentucky.

It’s just a sign of how far this team has come, from the clutch free throws, two each from Aaron Holiday, Kris Wilkes and Jaylen Hands, and late defensive stops from Prince Ali and GG Goloman.

“Those are winning plays,” head coach Steve Alford said this week. “Those are things you gotta do down the stretch. Especially coming off a Michigan game that everything went wrong, sometimes that can get into your head and everything just snowballs from there.”

With their upset of then-No. 7 Kentucky in hand, the Bruins move into Pac-12 play, but there’s still with a lot of work to do.

Here are five major questions for the Bruins heading into Friday’s Pac-12 opener against Washington State at Pauley Pavilion (8 p.m. PT, ESPN2, AM 1150).