LOS ANGELES – UC Santa Barbara found out that No. 2 UCLA is as good as advertised on Wednesday night, losing a 102-62 decision to the Bruins at Pauley Pavilion. 

The Gauchos (1-7) had an early 12-11 lead but UCLA (11-0) went on a 17-0 run to take a 28-12 lead and never looked back. 

"They play so fast but under such great control," said UCSB head coach Bob Williams. "You have to give them credit because they are so unselfish and they really feed off of each other." 

The Bruins assisted on 27 of their 39 baskets in the game and were led by forward T.J. Leaf who nearly had a triple-double, finishing with 25 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. 

"He is so versatile on both ends of the court," Williams said of Leaf. "He can step out and shoot the three, go inside or pass in the post. He is very difficult to defend." 

As has been the case much of this season, shooting was an issue for the Gauchos as they shot 30.1% overall and just 25.0% from outside the three-point arc. 

"We have better shooters than that," Williams said. "But we're not showing that right now. I believe that we will start shooting it better and we're going to have to." 

UCSB was led by sophomore Ami Lakoju who recorded the first double-double of his career with 11 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. Gabe Vincent made just 3-of-18 field goal attempts but finished in double-figures with 10 points. Jalen Canty had nine points and seven rebounds while Max Heidegger added nine points.

"I thought we showed a lot of fight in the second half and Ami was one of those who fought the hardest," Williams said. "You have to look for something positive from a game like this and that's what I saw. We continued to fight in the second half when the game was out of reach." 

The Gauchos outrebounded the Bruins 50-46. In addition to Lakoju and Canty with 12 and seven respectively, freshman Christian Terrell added a career-high seven boards.

For UCLA, Leaf was joined in double-figures by Aaron Holiday (20), Bryce Alford (15), Lonzo Ball (13) and Isaac Hamilton (13). Ball also had 10 rebounds and seven assists. 

"Ball is a great player," Williams said. "He has great court vision and sets the tone for them by being completely unselfish." 

UCSB will travel to Las Vegas to play in the South Point Holiday Hoops Classic on December 21-22. The Gauchos will play Iona at 12:15 p.m. on Wednesday and Nevada at 2:30 on Thursday.