FULLERTON—The No. 14 UCLA Bruins will advance to the second round of the Wooden Legacy tournament after a 99-77 win over the Portland Pilots on Thursday, November 24.
Lorenzo Ball led the Bruins with 18 points and 11 assists. Isaac Hamilton scored 16 points and six rebounds; Thomas Welsh added 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Bruin’s head coach Bryce Alford was complimentary of Ball after the game.
“The guys fed off him. If he’s learning anything, it’s that this team really trusts him,” Alford said. “When he gets rolling, it really helps what we are doing at both ends.”
Alford expressed confidence in his freshmen led team as they head into the second round of the tournament.
“We play a Big Ten team, an unbeaten team tomorrow, and it’s the best team we’ve played and our biggest test all year,” Alford said. “Lonzo and TJ are learning as they go and they’re doing a great job. I think Ball had a slow start tonight, particularly defensively, but these guys feed off him, these guys trust him. When he gets rolling, he gets the team rolling.”
Portland’s Jazz Johnson led all scorers with 25 points. D’Marques Tyson added 16 points and four rebounds off the bench.
The undefeated Pilots were unable to match the shooting of UCLA, who made 36 of 66 field goal attempts, including 13 three-pointers.
The Bruins are undefeated this season and will face the Nebraska Cornhuskers in a second round match up on Friday, November 25.