Between them, UCLA and Kentucky have combined for 19 NCAA men’s basketball championships. In their meeting Saturday, which the Wildcats dominated en route to an easy win, only one of the teams looked capable of adding to that total this season.

Kentucky, also No. 1 in ESPN's BPI, came into Saturday’s game allowing opponents to shoot 30 percent in the half court, the best in Division I. The Wildcats continued their defensive dominance, holding UCLA to 25 percent shooting in the half court.

Kentucky Half-Court Defense, Saturday

Kentucky had the upper hand from the jump. The Wildcats took a 24-0 lead, exploiting the Bruins’ 0-for-17 shooting from the field in the first 7½ minutes.

The Wildcats held the Bruins to 3-of-36 shooting in the half court in the first half. UCLA got off one shot in transition, a 3-pointer by Norman Powell 40 seconds before intermission. Powell’s shot was blocked.

The first half ended with Kentucky leading 41-7. It was the fewest points UCLA has scored in any half in the past 15 seasons. The next-lowest first-half output was 17 points, also against Kentucky, in the 2003-04 season.

Kentucky totaled 28 transition points on 11-of-15 shooting (73 percent) from the field. The transition advantage in the first half was 21-0 in favor of Kentucky. It was Kentucky’s second most transition points in a game this season (31 against Montana State on Nov. 23).

No inside game for Bruins

Kentucky Paint Defense, Saturday

UCLA tried to attack Kentucky’s size, with 49 paint touches and 29 paint field goal attempts. Despite the Bruins scoring 40 percent of their points in the paint (season average: 38 percent), Kentucky was largely able to swarm the Bruins inside.

Kentucky had more blocked shots (eight) than UCLA had points (seven) in the first half. The Wildcats finished with more combined blocks and steals (21) than UCLA had made field goals (19).