TJ Leaf leads Bruins to 54-30 against Gauchos at halftime

It was the TJ Leaf show. The freshman forward dominated the game – in the paint and beyond the arc – as No. 2 UCLA (10-0) took a 54-30 lead over visiting UC Santa Barbara (1-6) at halftime. Facing a zone defense for just the second game this year, the Bruins didn’t falter. They made […]

Men’s basketball to face new challenges against UCSB

As well as No. 2 UCLA (10-0) is playing, coach Steve Alford is glad his Bruins have three more games to tune up for Pac-12 play, which starts with a road matchup against returning Pac-12 champion and Elite Eight team, Oregon. “We’ll take as many as we can get before we get into conference,” Alford said […]

Men’s basketball’s shift to motion offense key to season’s success

The Golden State Warriors set the world on fire last year, and they did so while shunning the modern darling of the basketball world: the pick-and-roll. En route to their record-breaking 73 wins, the Warriors ranked dead last in the NBA in pick-and-roll usage, getting just 15.6 percent of their offense with ball screens. By […]

UCLA men’s basketball overpowers Michigan in second half to win 102-84

This post was updated Dec. 10 at 7:49 p.m. With just over a minute left in the first half, it looked like the game was slipping away from UCLA. After holding a 6-point lead with 5:31 before halftime, the Bruins found themselves suddenly down seven to the Michigan Wolverines. Then Lonzo Ball took over. The […]

UCLA men’s basketball tied with Michigan 50-50 at halftime

Two things happened when UCLA upset then-No. 1 Kentucky a week ago. First, the Bruins jumped up to No. 2 in the nation. But maybe more importantly, UCLA fans are starting to pay attention again. Soon after the win against the Wildcats, UCLA Athletics announced that the game against the Michigan Wolverines sold out. And […]

No. 2 UCLA men’s basketball looks to keep up pace against Michigan

How does Steve Alford ensure his players aren’t swallowed up by the newfound hype around UCLA basketball? “We schedule Michigan,” the coach said. “We know that if we believe all that stuff, and we don’t improve this week, we’ll get beat.” The No. 2 Bruins (9-0), whose road win over then-No. 1 Kentucky on Saturday […]

No. 11 Bruin basketball outperforms No. 1 Wildcats on both sides of court

John Calipari looked on in disbelief. UCLA point guard Lonzo Ball had just snatched the ball away from Kentucky’s Malik Monk before driving to the basket for an easy dunk. Seconds later, the freshman nailed a 3-pointer off of freshman forward TJ Leaf’s assist to push the Bruins’ lead back up to nine with a […]