Calipari likes UK’s trajectory going into UCLA game. ‘I think there’s less confusion.’

John Calipari says this Kentucky basketball team is improving.

On Saturday evening in Madison Square Garden, that thought will be put to the test.

UK’s matchup with UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic should be one of the Wildcats’ most difficult games of the regular season, and that’s with a schedule that will still feature eight meetings with teams currently ranked in the Top 25 following this one.

The Bruins are No. 16 in the Associated Press rankings — and UK is No. 13 on the latest list — but UCLA is No. 4 nationally in the KenPom ratings and No. 3 overall in the Torvik ratings. Both of those college basketball analytics sites rank the Bruins with a top-three offense and top-20 defense nationally. And they’re coming into Saturday’s game off an 87-60 dismantling of No. 20 Maryland on the Terrapins’ home court Wednesday night.

Count UK Coach John Calipari among those who have been impressed.

“Right now, they’re one of those teams when I watch, I say, ‘They’ve got a little of everything,’” he said Thursday.

While UCLA’s offense is more highly rated than its defense at the moment, it’s the latter that is often the most visually impressive. The Bruins’ star player — do-it-all senior Jaime Jaquez Jr. — is a two-time Pac-12 all-defensive team selection. Junior guard Jaylen Clark is averaging 2.5 steals per game. “He’s literally the best defensive player in the country,” UCLA Coach Mick Cronin said after the Maryland game, when Clark tallied 12 deflections.

“The biggest thing is, they’re really physical,” Calipari said. “Defensively, they’re really physical. I mean, they’re fighting screens. They’re fighting the post. They’re fighting pick-and-rolls. If you don’t fight, you have no chance this game. So you gotta negate that part of it — really hard to do, not many people have been able to do it. And, then, when they shoot the ball — like they shot yesterday — they become, oof. I mean, they’re really good.”

The Bruins shot 55.6 percent from the field at Maryland, 41.7 percent from three-point range.

UCLA’s roster also features veteran point guard Tyger Campbell — one of the best playmakers in the country — and highly ranked freshmen Amari Bailey and Adem Bona, who are both getting significant playing time right off the bat.

“This will be a really hard game for us,” said Calipari, who has hyped up just about every game on UK’s schedule to this point in similar fashion — even those eventual 30- and 40-point blowouts — but is likely right on with his assessment of this one.

He also expects his Wildcats to look better than they have in previous games against big-name teams. UK lost to Michigan State in the Champions Classic and Gonzaga in Spokane Arena before squeaking one out over Michigan in London this month. Of those teams, only the Zags are currently ranked — at No. 15 in the latest poll — and Kentucky didn’t look all that great in a 69-59 victory over Yale last weekend. UK’s halfcourt offense, specifically, has been shaky, and that fact combined with UCLA’s often-suffocating defense will make for an intriguing watch.

Calipari has been looking forward to this stretch of the season, however, a chance to get his team in the practice gym, with more time between games and more opportunities for scrimmaging and chemistry-building before the Cats get to the meat of their schedule.

“I’m anxious to see how we perform,” he said Thursday. “I think we’re better than we were three weeks ago. We execute better. We’re playing more together, instead of, ‘OK, all we can do is throw it to you, and you try to get a basket.’ We’re doing things together better.

“I think there’s less confusion on what we’re doing.”

Calipari has repeatedly said that his team — No. 4 in the preseason rankings — got off to such an uneven start due to injuries to Oscar Tshiebwe and Sahvir Wheeler late in the preseason, setbacks that had the Cats shorthanded and without arguably the squad’s two most important players for about a month. They’ve been at full strength for seven games now, however, and — even if some of UK’s players are still less than 100 percent healthy, as Calipari claims — it’s getting time to fairly judge this team by its results on the court.

The Kentucky coach says these last few weeks of extra practice and even more scrimmaging than he typically allows at this point in the season has led to a better understanding of team concepts. The Cats are getting on the same page, according to Calipari, who on Saturday will get his last shot at UK’s first victory over a ranked opponent before league play begins.

UK associate coach Orlando Antigua, who spoke after Calipari on Thursday afternoon, said the Cats had been on a run of “four great days of practice” and were playing a “locked in and physical” brand of basketball heading into Saturday’s matchup.

He knows Kentucky hasn’t lived up to those preseason expectations just yet. Perhaps that changes now.

“What’s challenging for a coach is finding that rhythm to be able to utilize everybody’s strengths, and put them in positions so they can be their best versions. And sometimes that takes time,” Antigua said. “And when you’re dealing with injuries, that takes a little longer time — to find that groove, to find that rhythm. And this is a great time for us, as we get to finishing up finals.

“Coming back, we’re going to have days where we can put in a lot of stuff and work a lot and get extra reps in. And, usually, the teams that Cal has had have always made a big jump during this time of the year.”

Saturday

No. 13 Kentucky vs. No. 16 UCLA

What: CBS Sports Classic

Where: Madison Square Garden in New York City

When: About 5:15 p.m.

TV: CBS-27

Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1

Records: Kentucky 7-2, UCLA 8-2

Series: Kentucky leads 8-7.

Last meeting: UCLA won 83-75 on Dec. 23, 2017, at the CBS Sports Classic in New Orleans.

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