UCLA’s offense was not at its best in the first half Thursday night, but the Bruins still managed to take a 41-33 lead into halftime against San Diego at Pauley Pavilion.
The Bruins shot 44.8 percent from the field and were 0-for-8 from behind the 3-point line. Defensively, though, they held the Toreros to 30.8 percent from the field.
Taking advantage of the Toreros’ lack of height, the Bruins won the rebounding battle 26-19, and big men junior Thomas Welsh and freshman T.J. Leaf led the team with 10 points each.
The teams were even through the first five minutes of play before UCLA pulled away and built a lead as large as 12.
Freshman point guard Lonzo Ball notched five points, five rebounds and a pair of assists in 19 minutes of action. Ball seemed to injure his ankle early on and headed to the locker room briefly before returning and re-entering the game.