UCLA appears to be toting some good luck with it to Las Vegas, at least on the injury front.
Coach Steve Alford said Tuesday that power forward TJ Leaf's sprained left ankle was "progressing really well" and should allow him to play in the Pac-12 Conference tournament opener at T-Mobile Arena against USC or Washington.
"Our full intent is to have him Thursday night," Alford said.
Alford said he would ease Leaf back into practice Tuesday after a two-day break for players. Leaf injured the ankle March 1 during the opening minutes of the third-ranked Bruins' game against Washington, forcing him to sit out the rest of that game and his team's regular-season finale three days later against Washington State.
Leaf ranks second among the Bruins in scoring (16.3 points per game) and rebounding (8.4), and leads all rotation players by making 63.0 percent of his shots and 46.2 percent of his three-point attempts.
Reserve forward Gyorgy Goloman had two of his best games in Leaf's absence, averaging 7.5 points and 5.0 rebounds.
"We hope that's helped him and given him some confidence in what he can do," Alford said, "because I thought he had some really good minutes in both of those games."
