UCLA men’s basketball leads Cal 44-24 at halftime
Freshmen TJ Leaf and Lonzo Ball catalyzed an 11-0 run to give UCLA the 44-24 halftime lead over Cal. Leaf finished with seven rebounds and six points, including a big dunk over a Bears defender. (Jintak Han/Assistant Photo editor)
By Derrek Li
Jan. 5, 2017 6:58 p.m.
It took No. 4 UCLA (14-1, 1-1 Pac-12) less than seven minutes to bust it wide open.
The Bruins were still feeling it out against the California Bears (10-4, 1-1 Pac-12), leading 15-12 with three 3-pointers from senior guard Bryce Alford.
Then UCLA’s star freshmen duo woke up the crowd. Forward TJ Leaf hit a short jumper for his first points of the night. On the next possession, he caught the ball at the top of the key off a pass from guard Lonzo Ball, shook his defender and landed a posterizing hammer that got everyone up and buzzing.
TJ Leaf wakes up Pauley Pavilion with a poster off the drive.pic.twitter.com/MfdPO7XzqR
— Derrek Li (@DerrekLi) January 6, 2017
With a Ball steal and finish, a coast-to-coast lay-up for Leaf and then another Alford 3 later, UCLA’s quick 11-0 run left Cal in the dust.
The Bruins kept pushing it on the way to a 44-24 halftime lead.
Alford led the way with 16 points, Leaf added six points and a team-high seven rebounds and Ball kept the offense humming with seven points, four assists and four rebounds.
Then Ball capped it all off with a near 30-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer to push the halftime lead to an even 20.
