Some of the UCLA men’s basketball team’s early-season struggles showed up Saturday in a Top 25 match-up with Kentucky in the CBS Sports Classic. Freshmen ran into foul trouble and were nonfactors and an early double-digit lead was erased entirely.

Yet, Bruins upperclassmen Jaime Jaquez Jr., Tyger Campbell and Jaylen Clark came to the rescue and redshirt freshman Mac Etienne provided valuable late minutes off the bench to guide the team to its seventh consecutive victory.

Jaquez Jr. scored a game-high 19 points and Campbell and Clark had 15 apiece to lead No. 16 UCLA to a 63-53 win over No. 13 Kentucky at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

UCLA (10-2) led by 10 at the midway point of the first half and pushed the advantage to 33-20 on a Clark layup with 3:14 left before the halftime break.

Kentucky (7-3) dug itself in the early hole with 12 first-half turnovers and finished with 18. The Wildcats, who had their four-game winning streak snapped, cut the deficit to 35-27 before the half.

Kentucky star big man Oscar Tshiebwe, last season’s unanimous national player of the year, was limited to eight points — including just two after halftime — on 4-of-12 shooting. Freshman reserve Chris Livingston finished with 14 points to pace the Wildcats.

Kentucky erased the early deficit and tied the game on a pair of occasions, the last at 40-40 while saddling UCLA big men Adem Bona and Kenneth Nwuba with their third and fourth fouls, respectively, with 14:26 to play.

The Bruins never allowed the Wildcats to pull in front, going on a quick 6-0 run and maintaining a two-possession lead for much of the next several minutes until Antonio Reeves pulled Kentucky within 54-51 on a 3-pointer with 6:08 remaining.

After Nwuba fouled out, the Wildcats cut the deficit to 55-53 on Sahvir Wheeler’s jump shot and Campbell answered on the next possession to push the lead back up to four.

With the other UCLA big men in foul trouble, New York native Etienne made an impact including a key offensive rebound and a blocked shot — both against Tshiebwe — to help hold off Kentucky’s comeback attempt. Etienne also split a pair of free throws to bump the Bruins’ lead to 58-53 with 2:26 left.

Down the stretch, the Wildcats went scoreless over the final 4:31.

Seemingly each time Kentucky made a run, Jaquez Jr. had an answer. The senior shot 9 of 19 from the field and pulled down 12 rebounds — four on the offensive glass — to finish with a double-double in 37 minutes.

Jaquez Jr. continued his improvement on the defensive end, giving UCLA a second consistent performer to go with Clark. The duo had four steals apiece for a second consecutive game, and Jaquez Jr. added a big second-half block.

With 3:09 to play, Etienne blocked a driving Tshiebwe to preserve UCLA’s 57-53 lead.

The Bruins continue to make a habit out of jumping out to double-digit leads in the first half of games this season. UCLA did so with its patented defense and shot 50% in the first half, carrying over the hot shooting from its rout at No. 20 Maryland earlier in the week.

With the five-star freshmen combining for just three points (all from Amari Bailey), the Bruins turned to their upperclassmen to lead the way.

UCLA showed its mettle down the stretch, never allowing Kentucky to pull in front in the second half. The Wildcats last led 5-2 with with 18:33 left in the opening half.

Starting five

PG Tyger Campbell: 15 pts on 7/17 shooting (0/2 3-ptrs), 3 rebs, 2 asst, 1 stl

G Amari Bailey: 3 pts on 1/6 shooting, 2 rebs

G Jaylen Clark: 15 pts on 6/11 shooting (0/2 3-ptrs), 8 rebs, 2 asst, 4 stls

G/F Jaime Jaquez Jr.: 19 pts on 9/19 shooting (0/2 3-ptrs), 12 rebs, 4 asst, 4 stls, 1 blk

F/C Adem Bona: 4 rebs, 1 asst, 2 blks

Bench

G David Singleton: 8 pts on 3/5 shooting (2/2 3-ptrs), 1 reb, 1 asst, 2 stls

F/C Kenneth Nwuba: 2 pts on 1/1 shooting, 3 rebs

F Mac Etienne: 1 pts on 1/4 FTs, 5 rebs, 1 asst, 1 blk

G Dylan Andrews: No stats

G Will McClendon: No stats

G/F Abramo Canka: DNP (coach’s decision)

G Russell Stong: DNP (coach’s decision)

F Evan Manjikian: DNP (coach’s decision)

F Logan Cremonesi: DNP (coach’s decision)

G Jack Seidler: DNP (coach’s decision)