A left ankle sprain to freshman forward T.J. Leaf overshadowed UCLA’s first-half dominance against Washington on Wednesday night.
The Bruins headed into halftime with a 49-28 lead, but the most notable moment of the game came less than five minutes in, when Leaf landed on the foot of Washington’s Noah Dickerson and crumpled to the ground along the UCLA baseline. He stayed there for over a minute before a pair of assistants helped him off the court and into the locker room.
The 6-foot-10 big man, who entered the game averaging a team-leading 16.8 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, will not return Wednesday and will be re-evaluated after the game, according to a UCLA spokesperson.
Leaf’s injury aside, the opening period went well for the Bruins, who jumped out to a double-digit lead within the first two minutes and shot 48.7 percent from the field, including 7-of-14 on 3-pointers.
Senior guards Bryce Alford and Isaac Hamilton each reached double digits in the half, scoring 12 and 10 points, respectively, while freshman point guard Lonzo Ball piled up a team-high five assists to go with seven points and three rebounds.
With star freshman point guard Markelle Fultz sidelined by a knee injury, Washington shot just 32.4 percent for the half, turning the ball over 12 times and scoring a measly 0.67 points per possession.
The Huskies did out-rebound the Bruins 24-20.