Bryce Alford poured in 26 points as No. 6 UCLA rolled over rival USC to avenge one of its losses with a 102-70 victory Saturday night at a raucous Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.
All five starters scored in double figures for UCLA (24-3, 11-3 Pac-12), which shot 53.8 percent, amassed a huge rebounding advantage and outscored the Trojans 31-9 over the final 7:24.
TJ Leaf posted 19 points and eight rebounds for the Bruins, who had lost four in a row to the Trojans. Thomas Welsh recorded his seventh double-double of the season, finishing with 16 points and 16 rebounds.
Lonzo Ball flirted with a triple-double, putting up 15 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Isaac Hamilton added 13 points.
Bennie Boatwright had 20 points and 10 rebounds for USC (21-6, 8-6), which was coming off an 81-70 loss to No. 5 Oregon. Chimezie Metu had 14 points and six rebounds.
Boatwright posted his first double-double since returning from a two-month injury absence. The Trojans beat the Bruins without Boatwright on Jan. 25, but this time they were no match for an explosive UCLA squad that leads the nation in scoring.
"I'm extremely proud of the guys," UCLA coach Steve Alford said. "I thought they just played really well tonight. We did a really good job on the backboard. I thought what we did on the backboard was special."
The teams exchanged leads several times before UCLA took control late in the first half. The Bruins took a 12-8 lead on a 3-pointer by Leaf. The Trojans went up 17-14 on a 3-pointer by Shaqquan Aaron.
USC led 23-18 following two free throws by Boatwright, but UCLA mounted a 7-0 run to go ahead. The Trojans briefly reclaimed the lead on a 3-pointer by Elijah Stewart, but the Bruins ended the half with a 21-8 run. They went up 30-26 on a layup by Leaf, extended the lead to 11 on a 3-pointer by Alford and carried a 46-34 advantage into the break after Ball made a 3-pointer with five seconds remaining.
USC cut the deficit to nine on a couple occasions in the second half, but UCLA answered each time to push the lead back to double digits. The Trojans trailed 71-61 with just under eight minutes remaining, but the Bruins finished with a flourish.
UCLA blew the game open with a 16-2 run. Alford scored 12 points during that run to lead the surge, including 10 in a row at one point.
"Once they got going, it's kind of tough to stop," USC guard Jordan McLaughlin told the Los Angeles Times.
The Bruins took a 76-61 lead on a 3-pointer by Alford, stretched the lead to 20 on two free throws by Alford and later went up by 30 on another 3-pointer by Alford.
"We were just trying to put together a full 40 minutes," Alford said. "That was our goal. That's our goal every single game, and I think tonight we finally did that really well."
UCLA remained 2 1/2 games behind first-place Arizona and 1 1/2 behind Oregon in the Pac-12. The Bruins made 10 of 20 from 3-point range and outrebounded the Trojans 50-33.
USC shot 33.8 percent and made 7 of 22 from beyond the arc.
NOTES:
-- UCLA freshman PG Lonzo Ball was named Pac-12 Player of the Week after averaging 18.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and five assists in last week's victories over Oregon and Oregon State.
-- UCLA improved to 139-108 all-time against USC.
-- The Trojans are enjoying their best season since going 22-5 to start the 1991-92 campaign.
