Bruins, Ball break free of stifling ’Cats

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — To those who haven’t seen much of star freshman Lonzo Ball and UCLA’s incredible offense, catch them while you can. To the rest of the teams remaining in the NCAA Tournament, catch them if you can.

Though No. 6 Cincinnati was able to slow the nation’s highest-scoring offense to a season-low 30 points in the first half of Sunday’s secondround NCAA Tournament game, No. 3 UCLA’s seemingly unstoppable attack awoke in spectacular fashion, exploding for 49 points on 63 percent shooting in the second half to seal a 79-67 South Region win at the Golden 1 Center.

“I don’t know of a more fun basketball team to watch when we’re clicking. And we’ve had a lot of games where we’ve been clicking,” Bruins coach Steve Alford said. “Against a defense like that, it’s very encouraging. … This team showed its colors again. … They’re taking us coaches on an incredible journey.”

It was Ball, who grabbed the wheel, as usual, and directed the Bruins (31-4) to their third Sweet 16 in the past four years — setting up a highly anticipated matchup with No. 2 Kentucky, which lost to UCLA earlier this season. It’s also their first with a potential top pick in the NBA draft, whose on-court maturity and vision gives the 11-time national champions legitimate hope to claim their first national championship in 22 years.

With gifts that appear to grow every game, the 19-yearold Ball overcame a rough first half — without an assist — and finished with 18 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, on 7-of-10 shooting, including 4-of-7 3-pointers.

“He’s been built for success, built as a winner, trained to be a winner all of his life,” Alford said. “When your point guard plays with the poise that ours plays with, I think it has a calming effect on everybody. Things didn’t click the way we wanted them to offensively in the first half. But there was no panic. There has never been panic in our locker room or in a huddle. A lot of that has to do with Zo’s demeanor.”

Early on, the Bearcats (30-6) frustrated the high-flying Bruins with their physicality and pace, taking a 33-30 halftime lead after holding UCLA under 38 percent shooting from the field. Leading-scorer T.J. Leaf was scoreless. Secondleading scorer Bryce Alford had three points.

“We’re not used to doing that,” the younger Alford said. “We were upset with the way both of us played. I talked to T.J. at halftime and made sure that he stayed aggressive. That’s all you can do is stay aggressive and continue to trust in what you do and we both got hot.”

Leaf made all of his five shots in the second half. Alford finished with 16 points. Five players reached double-figures.

Ball alternated between maestro and magician, finding teammates who didn’t even know they were open.

After trading leads early in the second half, Ball put the Bruins up for good with backto-back 3-pointers, with just over 13 minutes remaining, maintaining the lead with a brilliant 21:3 assist to turnover ratio as a team.

“I feel like I have a good feel for the game,” Ball said. “When it’s time for me to make plays, I try to do my best.” His coach interjected: “He has a great feel for the game,” Alford said. “Not good, great.”

And the show will go on.