LOS ANGELES - I joked on Twitter Wednesday night, not long after I arrived at Pauley Pavilion, that I was looking forward to watching UCLA score a million.
UCLA did not score a million.
But the Bruins did break the 100-point barrier for the fifth time and cruised to a 102-62 victory over UC Santa Barbara in which their star freshmen both nearly recorded triple-doubles. Lonzo Ball finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. He was great. And TJ Leaf was even better. The 6-foot-10 forward made me regret omitting him from my list of 10 candidates for National Player of the Year that published earlier Wednesday. He got 25 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.
"We're all unselfish and we're all talented," Leaf told me late Wednesday before spending several minutes signing autographs. "It's an interesting group."
Also an overwhelming group.
The Bruins are leading the nation in 2-point field goal percentage, 3-point field percentage and effective field goal percentage, and that they're doing it while playing at a top-15 tempo borders on amazing. As for Leaf, he's now averaging 18.3 points, 9.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists. The in-state product is shooting 54.2 percent from 3-point range and looking very much like somebody who will, like Ball, be taken in the first round, and possibly in the lottery, of June's NBA Draft.
UCLA is No. 2 in the CBS Sports Top 25 (and one).
The complete Top 25 (and one) is below.
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Josh Hart has scored 63 points in his last 71 minutes on the court. The senior guard is averaging 20.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.7 assists while shooting 45.3 percent from 3-point range. | -- | 18-16 |
| 2 |  | The Bruins have scored more than 100 points in five of their 11 games and only been kept in the 70s once. TJ Leaf is averaging a team-high 18.3 points per contest. | -- | 16-17 |
| 3 |  | Six of Baylor's nine wins have come by double-digits - among them the 76-61 victory over Xavier. Johnathan Motley is averaging a team-high 16.8 points and a team-high 8.4 rebounds. | -- | 24-11 |
| 4 |  | The Jayhawks beat Nebraska easily Saturday despite the absence of Carlton Bragg. KU suspended the sophomore forward Friday after he was charged with battery but reinstated him once the charge was dropped. | -- | 23-11 |
| 5 |  | The Blue Devils have won eight straight since losing 77-75 to Kansas. Four different players, including Amile Jefferson, are averaging at least 15.0 points per game. | -- | 27-9 |
| 6 |  | The Tar Heels have won two straight without the services of Joel Berry. The junior point guard is dealing with a sprained ankle. | -- | 29-8 |
| 7 |  | The Wildcats' next two games are against North Carolina and Louisville. Their final non-league game is next month against Kansas. | -- | 23-10 |
| 8 |  | The Zags' 10-0 record represents their best start in program history. Nigel Williams-Goss is averaging a team-high 13.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists. | -- | 27-8 |
| 9 |  | Saturday's win over Texas Southern doubled as Rick Pitino's 400th victory as Louisville's coach. The Cardinals, as of Sunday morning, have the nation's best defensive efficiency rating. | -- | 8-24 |
| 10 |  | Sophomore OG Anunoby has missed the past three contests with an ankle injury. The Hoosiers have won all three and next play Butler on Saturday. | -- | 19-14 |
| 11 |  | The Mountaineers are creating turnovers on 34.7 percent of their opponents' possessions. West Virginia coach Bob Huggins is sitting on 799 career wins. | -- | 9-23 |
| 12 |  | The Cavaliers' lone loss is a single-digit loss to West Virginia. Kyle Guy is shooting 61.9 percent from 3-point range after making three threes in Tuesday's win over East Carolina. | -- | 23-11 |
| 13 |  | The Bluejays broke a CenturyLink Center record for points in Friday's 113-58 blowout victory vs. Longwood. Maurice Watson finished with 11 assists and just one turnover in the win. | -- | 25-10 |
| 14 |  | The Badgers' only losses are losses to North Carolina and Creighton. Ethan Happ is averaging 13.3 points and 9.6 rebounds in just 24.5 minutes per game. | -- | 22-14 |
| 15 |  | The Boilermakers' lone losses are single-digit losses to Villanova and Louisville. They're shooting a surprising 44.1 percent from 3-point range as a team. | -- | 34-5 |
| 16 |  | The Bulldogs rebounded from their midweek loss at Indiana State by beating Cincinnati 75-65 on Saturday. Kelan Martin finished with a team-high 20 points. | -- | 18-15 |
| 17 |  | The Musketeers snapped their two-game losing streak Saturday via a 77-69 win over Utah. Trevon Bluiett is averaging a team-high 19.2 points and 5.6 rebounds. | -- | 16-18 |
| 18 |  | The Wildcats are 3-1 with the lone loss coming to Gonzaga since losing Parker Jackson-Cartwright to a high-ankle sprain. Arizona's next two games are against Texas A&M and New Mexico. | -- | 27-9 |
| 19 |  | The Seminoles' lone loss is an 89-86 loss to a Temple team that also beat West Virginia. Dwayne Bacon is averaging a team-high 17.3 points. | -- | 17-16 |
| 20 |  | The Gators' three losses are to Duke, Gonzaga and Florida State. So they still have zero losses to currently unranked schools | -- | 24-12 |
| 21 |  | Jock Landale recorded his second double-double in Wednesday's 73-51 win over Western Kentucky. The junior center is now averaging 18.0 points and 9.0 rebounds. | -- | 26-8 |
| 22 |  | Freshman Jarron Cumberland got 18 points on nine shots in Wednesday's win over Texas Southern. The Bearcats have won six of their last seven with the loss in that stretch coming at Butler. | -- | 22-15 |
| 23 |  | The Irish were in a one-possession game in the final minute Saturday with top-ranked Villanova. Notre Dame's next game is Saturday against Purdue. | -- | 13-20 |
| 24 |  | South Carolina : The Gamecocks were outscored 40-30 in the second half of Monday's 67-64 loss to Seton Hall. Leading scorer Sindarius Thornwell has missed two straight games because of an indefinite suspension. | -- | 26-8 |
| 25 |  | The Hurricanes have won three straight since losing to Florida. Freshman Bruce Brown is averaging 10.0 points and 6.8 rebounds in 27.8 minutes per game. | -- | 15-17 |
| 26 |  | The undefeated Trojans are off to their best start since 1971. Elijah Stewart got 26 points in Sunday's win over Pepperdine and is now averaging 17.1 points per game. | -- | 15-18 |
