LOS ANGELES_Bryce Alford drove toward the basket, extending the ball just out of the reach of Elijah Stewart with his outstretched right arm and somehow flipping it into the basket while being fouled. Alford coolly walked toward the sideline, where he high-fived a few fans before doing the same with his UCLA teammates.
A celebration nearly two years in the making for the Bruins began with about 6{ minutes left in the game Saturday night. It continued when Lonzo Ball gathered what seemed like a wayward alley-oop pass from Alford with one hand and flushed it through the rim with both hands.
The decibel level inside Pauley Pavilion rose again when Ball came up with a steal and dunk that allowed the Bruins to reach triple digits on the scoreboard with a little more than a minute left, triggering a profane anti-USC chant from UCLA students.
No. 6 UCLA regained more than a foothold in its rivalry with USC, zooming past the Trojans for a 102-70 victory that ended a four-game losing streak in the series.
The Bruins hit more highs over the game's final 28 minutes than Keith Williams Jr. did in a rousing national anthem continually interrupted by cheers. Alford finished with 26 points and six assists, earning a high-five and a pat on the rump from his father, Coach Steve Alford, after he checked out of the game. TJ Leaf added 19 points and Thomas Welsh had 16 points and 16 rebounds for UCLA (24-3 overall, 11-3 Pac-12 Conference), which beat USC (21-6, 8-6) for the first time since the 2015 Pac-12 tournament.
UCLA opened a three-game lead over the Trojans in the Pac-12 standings with four games remaining in the regular season and remained in the running with Arizona and Oregon for the conference championship.
Frustrations were evident for USC in the final minutes when Coach Andy Enfield earned an oddly timed technical foul while the Bruins were in transition. USC forward Bennie Boatwright, who missed the teams' first meeting last month while recovering from a knee injury, had 20 points and 10 rebounds, but the Trojans were held to 34 percent shooting from the field and were outrebounded 50-33.
Fans were primed to celebrate before tipoff, arriving to find UCLA T-shirts on their seats as part of the Bruins' blue-out, with the exception of those in a designated USC section. It was UCLA's sixth home sellout in seven conference games and perhaps its most spirited, fans batting around glowing, fluorescent beach balls in the moments before tipoff.
In the minutes before the game, the video scoreboard featured several statistics highlighting UCLA's once-in-a-generation offense. One showed that the Bruins were averaging 91.9 points per game, best in the nation.
For the game's first 12 minutes, it didn't seem like the Bruins would hit 60 points.
The Trojans flustered UCLA again with a 2-3 zone defense, forcing turnovers and taking the Bruins out of rhythm. It didn't help UCLA that Isaac Hamilton threw a risky over-the-shoulder lob for Leaf in transition that went for a turnover, or that USC's Chimezie Metu later thwarted Leaf's alley-oop pass for Ike Anigbogu.
Boatwright announced his presence with a three-pointer on the opening possession and added another shortly thereafter. He later pump-faked Leaf out of the way before Ball came over to emphatically swat his shot.
Two teams that like to play at a harried pace appeared to be stuck in slow motion. Then it was as if UCLA hit the fast-forward button after USC led, 23-18, with eight minutes left in the first half. The Bruins went on a 17-3 run and scored 28 points in those eight minutes.
Just before halftime, Ball dribbled well beyond the three-point line, the seconds ticking off the clock, before Leaf came out to set a pick that forced Boatwright to switch onto Ball. It was the matchup Ball wanted, and he rose for a deep three-pointer that gave UCLA a 46-34 halftime lead and served as a good omen for the Bruins. They had won all three previous games this season in which Ball had made a shot from long range in the seconds before halftime.
Saturday would be no different.
