Box Score Los Angeles, CA—The UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team faced its toughest competition of the young season Wednesday evening as the Highlanders traveled westward to tangle with the #11 team in the nation, UCLA. The Bruins scored the first seven points of the game, however, and never trailed, en route to a 98-56 victory.

UCLA entered the game averaging 96.9 points per game, and they matched that Wednesday connecting on 59.7 percent of their shots from the field, and 48.1 percent from three-point range. Isaac Hamilton led the way for the Bruins, scoring a game-high 27 points. He made a living outside the arc, draining seven of 12 three-pointers including five for six in the second half when UCLA pulled away for good.

TJ Leaf (18 points, 10 rebounds) and Thomas Welsh (12 points, 12 rebounds) both posted double-doubles for UCLA, while Aaron Holiday scored 18 points, and Lonzo Ball dished out a career-high 13 assists. The Bruins were unselfish with the basketball as well, getting credit for 29 assists on 37 made baskets

Secean Johnson broke out of his scoring slump for the Highlanders, leading the team with 17. He averaged 8.0 points on eight of 31 from the floor over his previous three games, Chance Murray added 13 points and seven rebounds, while Gentrey Thomas chipped in with a dozen.

UC Riverside committed just 12 turnovers on the night, but UCLA was able to turn that into 20 points. The Bruins also dominated the paint outscoring the Highlanders 32-14.

UC Riverside breaks for the next two weeks for final exams, but the Highlanders return to the hard wood on December 13 for a 7 pm PT tip at Santa Clara.