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UCLA Basketball: TJ Leaf Has Big Offensive Game When the Bruins Can’t

By Mike Regalado

November 17, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins forward TJ Leaf (22) moves the ball against the defense of San Diego Toreros forward Brett Bailey (32) during the first half at Pauley Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
November 17, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins forward TJ Leaf (22) moves the ball against the defense of San Diego Toreros forward Brett Bailey (32) during the first half at Pauley Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports /
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Freshman power forward TJ Leaf has a huge game to lead the UCLA Basketball team to a win over San Diego, 88-68.

UCLA Basketball freshman TJ Leaf is going to have a great career. We are already seeing what kind of player he can be as he logged his second double-double in the Bruins’ first three games.

With UCLA struggling to score throughout the game, especially from downtown (3FG: 22.7%, 5-of-22), Leaf was able to put the ball in the basket nearly every time he touched the ball.

On 11-of-13 shooting, Leaf netted 26 points to go along with his 10 rebounds and 2 blocks. Against Pacific, he threw in 22 points and 15 rebounds. Clearly, UCLA has something special Bruin under the basket.

With this performance, Leaf is now tied with Bryce Alford in averaging 20.0 points per game.

Leaf was the only Bruin that could score at will (he was the only player to shoot over .500). Though UCLA had all of their starters and Aaron Holiday score in double-digits, Leaf was the constant.

Thomas Welsh was quite impressive on the other end of the floor. He also got a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, but it was his work on defense that stood out as he not only challenged shots, but blocked four of them. Welsh is slowly coming along as a defensive minded player and is something the Bruins desperately need down low.

Isaac Hamilton, Bryce Alford and Lonzo Ball also contributed to the victory, but were sluggish for large portions of the game. Ball continued his work as distributor as he had 8 assists to go with 13 points and 7 rebounds.

Next: UCLA Basketball: Good at Scoring AND Allowing Poiints

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Next Game: UCLA takes on Long Beach St. on Sunday at Pauley Pavilion for a 7 p.m. tipoff.