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No. 3 UCLA Muzzles Huskies, 98-66, To Go 15-1 At Home

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bryce Alford scored 29 points and No. 3 UCLA routed Washington 98-66 on Wednesday night for its eighth straight win despite losing starter TJ Leaf to injury.

Lonzo Ball added 19 points, seven rebounds and eight assists for the Bruins (27-3, 14-3 Pac-12), who improved to 15-1 at home. They completed a season sweep of Washington after winning by 41 points on the road last month.

Leaf twisted his left ankle 5 minutes into the game and didn't return, but that didn't hurt the Bruins. They led by 21 points at halftime and extended the lead to 42 in the second half.

Noah Dickerson tied his career high with 23 points for the Huskies (9-20, 2-15). They have lost 11 in a row and 13 of 14. Their 20 turnovers led to 34 points by the Bruins.

Alford hit three consecutive 3-pointers in the game's final 5:15. He finished with eight, one off his career high, and the Bruins had 14.

Early in the second half, Ball put on a show. The freshman phenom took a bounce pass from Thomas Welsh and scored on a fastbreak layup. He and Alford passed the ball back and forth before Alford stepped back in the left corner and hit a 3. On the Bruins' next play, Ball swiped David Crisp, picked up the ball bouncing low on the court and dunked. He later made back-to-back 3-pointers.

The Bruins opened the game by hitting their first four shots, including three 3-pointers, for an 11-point lead. They were ahead by seven when Leaf got hurt.

He stepped on the foot of a Huskies player as they came down from rebounding. Leaf landed on the court and stayed down until he was helped up by two staff members. He limped off with his arms draped over the staffers and went into the locker room.

He didn't return and a team spokesman said Leaf would be reevaluated on Thursday.

The Bruins rolled on.

They went on a 16-2 run that extended their lead to 37-16. Six players scored in the spurt, including three points by G.G. Goloman and a three-point play by Ike Anigbogu, who both entered the game after Leaf left. Aaron Holiday's alley-oop pass set up Ball's dunk.

BIG PICTURE

Washington: The Huskies continue to be in a major funk, just one spot out of the bottom of the Pac-12 standings. Lorenzo Romar is the longest tenured coach in the league with 15 years at the helm and the program faces a long slog back to respectability. Next week's league tourney in Las Vegas is the end of the Huskies' season.

UCLA: The Bruins were the only Pac-12 school to go undefeated in February at 7-0, the first time the school was unbeaten in that month since the 1994-95 team went 9-0 on its way to winning a record 11th national championship. All three of their defeats have been in conference; the third-place Bruins need a weekend sweep and losses by first-place Arizona and second-place Oregon to grab a share of the league regular season title.

LAKERS NIGHT OUT

Lakers coach Luke Walton, guard D'Angelo Russell and rookie Brandon Ingram, who played one season at Duke, attended the game. Former Laker and Clipper Lamar Odom chatted with Walton.

UP NEXT

Washington: Visits USC on Saturday in the regular season finale.

UCLA: Hosts Washington State on Saturday in the regular season finale and last home game for seniors Alford, Isaac Hamilton and Jerrold Smith, who has played a total of 20 minutes this season.

(Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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