UCLA
4-0
Long Beach State
1-4
No. 16 UCLA Downs Long Beach State, 114-77
November 20, 2016 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES โ Freshman TJ Leaf had 21 points and nine rebounds and classmate Lonzo Ball tallied 20 points and 11 assists to pace No. 16 UCLA past Long Beach State, 114-77, before 8,294 in Pauley Pavilion on Sunday night.
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UCLA (4-0) cracked the 100-point plateau for the third time in four games, finishing just five points shy of the 119 that the Bruins recorded in their season opener against Pacific on Nov. 11.
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Ball provided multiple highlight-reel dunks in a game that saw UCLA push its lead to as many as 42 points midway through the second half. The 6-foot-6 guard from Chino Hills, Calif., tied his season high with 11 assists, just one shy of the UCLA single-game freshman record set by Pooh Richardson in 1986.
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In all, the Bruins had six players score in double figures against visiting Long Beach State (1-4), which dropped its fourth consecutive road game. Isaac Hamilton finished with 18 points, while Aaron Holiday had 16, Bryce Alford totaled 15 and Thomas Welsh registered 12.
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"I thought this was the best we have played," UCLA head coach Steve Alford said. "We had great energy, great focus and did tremendous things offensively, again. Defensively, I thought this was the best that we have been."
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Loren Jackson totaled a team-high 15 points for Long Beach State, which had four players score in double figures.
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The outcome was rarely in doubt on Sunday night, as UCLA raced to 14-3 lead in the game's first five minutes. Long Beach State reduced the Bruins' early cushion to just six points, at 24-18, after a three-pointer by Jordan Griffin with 8:42 left in the opening half. From that point, the Bruins outscored the 49ers by a 23-11 margin to claim a 47-29 lead.
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UCLA entered the locker room at halftime with a 56-37 lead.
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The Bruins did not relent in the second half. Leading by 19 points at intermission, UCLA scored the first five points of the second half and pushed its lead to 30 after a three-pointer from Hamilton with 14:54 to play.
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Both teams shot a high percentage from beyond the 3-point arc on Sunday. UCLA made 12 of 20 shots from downtown (60 percent), while Long Beach State nailed 11 of 22 three-pointers (50 percent). Alford made each of his first five 3-pointers, finishing 5-for-6 from beyond the arc.
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Among the most memorable highlight dunks came with 7:10 left in the game. After stealing the ball from Long Beach State's Justin Bibbins, Holiday raced to the hoop unguarded, lobbed the basketball off the glass and a trailing Lonzo Ball slammed it home to bring the crowd to its feet.
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The Bruins will return to action at the Wooden Legacy, playing three games in four days at Cal State Fullerton's Titan Gym (Nov. 24, 25) and at the Honda Center in Anaheim (Nov. 27).
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UCLA opens its tournament schedule on Thursday evening against Portland in a first-round matchup. Game time at Titan Gym on Thursday is 8 p.m. (PT). The Bruins' game against the Pilots will be nationally televised on ESPN2 with Doug Sherman and Sean Farnham on the call and Jeff Goodman serving as the courtside reporter.
