LA Sports Hub
Fansided

UCLA Bruins win Pac-12 home opener

By Jamaal Artis

January 5, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Lonzo Ball (2) moves to the basket against the defense of California Golden Bears guard Stephen Domingo (31) during the second half at Pauley Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
January 5, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Lonzo Ball (2) moves to the basket against the defense of California Golden Bears guard Stephen Domingo (31) during the second half at Pauley Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

The UCLA Bruins are back to finding their sweet spot.

Via in-state rivalry game the UCLA Men’s Basketball team took on the California Golden Bears at Pauley Pavillion.

The Bruins showed the positive aspects of their game that has them ranked in the top 5 of the polls, and some of the negative aspects came out as well.

A sure rout got closer than expected as the Golden Bears shaved down a twenty point to deficit to five points with less than a minute left, but too little too late as the Bruins hit 5 of 6 free throws at the end giving them a 81-71 win.

The Bruins had surged ahead by totally out-classing the Golden Bears in the first half holding them to just 30 percent from the field while shooting 51 percent.

Bryce Alford was the leading scorer getting 16 points while shooting 4-6 from three point land and would finish with 24 points overall.

The Bruins also built their big lead by neutralizing the Golden Bears best player Ivan Rabb, the team employed constant double teams and fast hands harassing Rabb into scoring just 4 first half points.

In the second half the Bruins seemed to go into cruise control and their lead began to slip in the last five minutes.

They also had difficulty controlling Rabb as he got back into the by getting to the boards.  Rabb was able to score 13 points and 14 rebounds bring his team back.

Despite the Golden Bears grit and fight, the Bruins were to strong as forward T.J. Leaf complemented Alford’s hot outside shooting by doing the dirty work inside.

Leaf would score 17 points by employing his skill to get to the basket, and also pace the Bruins with 11 rebounds.

Next: Full NFL Playoff Predictions

With the win UCLA will go for a sweep of their Bay Area rivals as they face Stanford on Sunday, a win then and UCLA may get closer to that number one spot of the college basketball polls.

Home/UCLA