NCAA Basketball: T.J. Leaf stands out in UCLA’s upset over Kentucky

These Bruins, who came into Wednesday night averaging 96.9 points a game, seem to be much better.

The Bruins are 8-0 – five of which, admittedly, came against cupcake opponents at Pauley Pavilion, and all eight of which were played within the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area.

But the Bruins – for the first time in program history – visit Rupp Arena, a building in which the Wildcats, under coach John Calipari, are only 124-4.

Calipari said afterward that UCLA’s offensive scheme and its imposing personnel “manhandled” his team. As a team, they are third in the nation in points per game, scoring an average of 96.9 points.

Coaches have needed a deluxe Thesaurus to find the right accolades to adequately try and describe this United Kingdom team. They have three solid big men who can score inside and out while controlling the glass.

Defense, the bedrock of this Kentucky team, had sinkhole slippage when compared to the suffocation of Arizona State on Monday.

Still, the Wildcats got 80 shots in the game. A Covington 3 in the final half-minute pulled Western Illinois to 78-76, but then Owens’ three-point play pushed the game out of reach. The Bruins force 13.4 turnovers.

Kentucky might be the best team in the sport – well, the highest-ranked team, that is – but players like Alford have been around for quite some time, meaning he is no stranger to the spotlight and big-time performances. “We just did it against the No. 1 team in the country”. The Bruins are in for a battle at Rupp Arena, but will be bringing with them their strongest roster in years, as well as the hope of UCLA faithful. “It was a good shot and a good way to go into halftime”. Score different ways. It’s about making baskets. F Alex Olesinski has missed eight games so far with a stress reaction in his left foot.

This wasn’t the best game for UCLA’s Lonzo Ball, but the freshman point guard hit a deep stepback three at the end of the first half that helped get him going after the break. UCLA is 5-0 against the spread in their last 5 games, 5-0 against the spread following a win, and 2-5 against the spread in their last 7 road games. De’Aaron Fox of Kentucky was the highlighted matchup coming into today’s game.

Josh Perkins added 16 points for the Zags (8-0), who beat the Wildcats (6-2) for the first time since 2011 after losing six of the previous seven matchups.

NO. 4 KANSAS 89, STANFORD 74: Frank Mason III scored 20 points and Devonte Graham delivered an early 3-point barrage and finished with 15 for Kansas at Lawrence, Kan. The game was full of offense, but as United Kingdom head coach John Calipari stated after the game, it was lost by a lack of fight and defensive effort from the young Cats. His assist-to-turnover numbers are 53-19. We had a flow of the game. “Like, he’s big. He sees the court”.

So here’s the aftermath: Nobody need be taken surprise anymore by UCLA. “The great thing about college basketball is you’d like to learn from close wins, but sometimes it doesn’t work that way”, Calipari said. “He’ll see something happening before it happens”. Sophomore guard Isaiah Briscoe is next at 18.4, followed by Fox at 15.3.

Freshman Bam Adebayo had his third double-double of the season with 18 points and 13 rebounds, career highs in both categories.

That vaunted Kentucky frontcourt led by projected National Basketball Association lottery pick Bam Adebayo (18 points, 13 rebounds, four blocks) could not stop UCLA’s TJ Leaf and Thomas Welsh, who combined to score 31 points and snatch 15 offensive rebounds.

“This is a lesson for us”, Calipari said. “We did not have that past year”.

Inside, Leaf is also pretty solid post player, with the ability to hit shots in the mid-post (a la the Dirk Nowitzki-style jumper seen above) as well as use his polished footwork to get to the rim.

Kentucky’s schedule being filled with a bunch of cupcakes or not, that is quite the feat, especially for a team with so many new faces in 2016-17.