SACRAMENTO, Calif. _ For more than 30 minutes Friday night, UCLA appeared in danger of a first this season: a bad loss.
The Bruins let heavy underdog Kent State bully its way into hanging around in their NCAA tournament first-round game at the Golden 1 Center, the Golden Flashes clinging to within single digits with 7{ minutes left.
Then third-seeded UCLA stretched a hot streak into an absolutely torrid one, making 12 consecutive shots and 13 of 14 on the way to a 97-80 victory over the 14th-seeded Golden Flashes.
UCLA was leading by only eight points when guard Aaron Holiday made a layup to start the dandy dozen with 12:20 remaining in the game. By the time center Thomas Welsh's jumper completed the stretch, the Bruins held a 92-70 lead with only 3:19 left.
The Bruins pulled away toward the end of the run after finally getting some stops to go with their efficiency on offense.
"We knew that we were bigger than them," so a lot of our shots were inside," said point guard Lonzo Ball, who gutted out 15 points and three assists while playing through a bruised right hip sustained late in the first half and white tape over the left thumb he strained last week.
Power forward TJ Leaf provided the might inside with 23 points and six rebounds and Welsh added 16 points and eight rebounds for the Bruins (30-4), who advanced to play sixth-seeded Cincinnati (30-5) in the second round on Sunday.
Ball was dealing with more than an assortment of injuries. A report on armchairallamericans.com said that his mother, Tina, had suffered a stroke last month that required life-threatening skull surgery to relieve brain pressure. UCLA has now played seven games since the date given in the story.
"I've got no comment on that, man," Lonzo said when asked whether his mother had suffered a stroke. "That's a family thing."
Ball's father, LaVar, would not comment on his wife's health when reached on the phone by the Los Angeles Times earlier this month other than to say, "We're OK. We're OK."
Part of UCLA's problem defensively was the absence of freshman forward Ike Anigbogu, who missed the game after spraining his left foot in practice Tuesday. He was listed as day to day and Bruins Coach Steve Alford said he hoped the shot-blocking specialist could play Sunday against the Bearcats.
Ball surpassed Larry Drew II to become UCLA's single-season all-time leader in assists when he found Holiday for a layup midway through the second half that gave the Bruins a 63-53 lead. Ball has 257 assists this season.
"Credit to my teammates," Ball said. "Can't get an assist without them scoring. I thank them."
Holiday added 15 points and 11 assists off the bench in perhaps his best performance of the season.
"He finished when he needed to finish," Alford said. "He passed when he needed to pass. His decision-making today I thought it was as good as it's been in a long time."
Guard Jaylin Walker finished with 23 points for the Golden Flashes (22-14), who had 15 offensive rebounds to UCLA's six and won the battle of second-chance points, 15-4, to remain in contention despite shooting only 43.7 percent to UCLA's 62.7 percent.
"I think if there was a negative about tonight, we didn't do a very good job of taking that away from them," Alford said of the offensive rebounds.
Leaf staged a personal showcase in the first half. He threw down a vicious one-handed dunk in transition, made two three-pointers as well as an up-and-under layup and a running jumper while getting fouled on the way to 16 points before halftime.
Ball also got off to a strong start with 10 points in the first half, escaping serious injury after getting undercut and landing awkwardly on his right hip shortly before halftime. He was diagnosed with a bruise but remained in the game, missing the subsequent free throw.
"I'm fine," Ball said. "Finished the game, got up. I'm good."
Ball's early highlights included a dunk off an alley-oop pass from Holiday and a layup in which he cradled the ball in his right arm before somehow flipping it into the basket while being fouled.
The Bruins appeared in control from the tipoff, scoring the game's first eight points while Kent State missed 10 of its first 11 shots.
UCLA would extend its cushion to 17 points before the Golden Flashes surged back to close their deficit to 47-39 by halftime.
"We kinda let up," Alford said. "Our shot selection was worse. We didn't defend. There is a poise to what you want to do offensively, but you've got to have poise defensively, too. I didn't think we did that as well in the first half as a team."
