What was so hard about that?

Three days after routing No. 20 Maryland on the road, No. 16 UCLA took Manhattan on Saturday with a 63-53 victory over No. 13 Kentucky at Madison Square Garden in the CBS Sports Classic.

A trip that had once appeared so daunting given the Bruins’ struggles the last time they faced nationally ranked teams — resulting in two losses in Las Vegas — left them with celebratory smiles after a sweep.

Along the way, UCLA found a formula that could sustain it the rest of the season.

Take care of the ball. Defend. Play with fearlessness.

UCLA did all three on this trip, resembling a team that could compete for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

“We know what we’re capable of,” Bruins coach Mick Cronin said, “if we defend and play with the toughness we played with this week.”

Here are five takeaways from UCLA’s East Coast swing as it careens toward the heart of its Pac-12 schedule:

Let’s go streaking

There’s no telling how long UCLA’s winning streak might last.

Seven consecutive victories have boosted the Bruins (10-2) to No. 3 in the nation in the metrics of basketball analyst Ken Pomeroy, who also projects them to lose only one more game — by one point at Arizona on Jan. 21.

Pomeroy gives UCLA, which has won its first two Pac-12…