LOS ANGELES -- After beating up on mostly lesser competition, things are about to get serious for No. 11 UCLA.The Bruins play at No. 1 Kentucky on Saturday before facing Michigan and Ohio State, a challenging start to December after they cruised past UC Riverside 98-56 to close out the first month of the season undefeated.UCLAs 8-0 start is its best since coach Steve Alfords first season in Westwood three years ago.Weve done a phenomenal job through eight games of sharing the ball and helping each other score, Alford said.Isaac Hamilton scored 27 points, tying his career-high with seven 3-pointers, and freshman T.J. Leaf added 18 points and 10 rebounds for UCLA.Aaron Holiday had 18 points and Thomas Welsh had 12 points and 12 rebounds. Lonzo Ball, the nations assist leader, set a freshman game assist record with 13 for the Bruins, who were coming off winning the title at last weeks Wooden Legacy. They hit nine of their 13 3-point attempts in the second half.Three games in four days, finals are starting and Kentucky looming on the weekend, this isnt an easy game no matter who were playing, Alford said. I liked our guys mindset. Thats all we talked about the last 48 hours. Once again, this team did a really great job of coming out and having a great mindset.Secean Johnson scored 17 points despite foul trouble and Chance Murray added 13 points for the Highlanders (1-4). Freshman Dikymbe Martin was held to five points after scoring 15 against Utah last week.They can score so easy, they put so much pressure on your offense, Highlanders coach Dennis Cutts said. You just cant match their offensive potency.Five of UCLAs first six baskets in the second half were 3-pointers and Hamilton hit four of them, extending the Bruins lead to 59-35.Hamiltons sixth 3-pointer launched them on a 13-0 run that included another 3 from him and made it 69-35.When the ball moves like that, youre bound to hit shots like that, he said.Ball set up his teammates with several nifty passes. He and Leaf teamed up three times in the second half. Ball dunked off Leafs alley-oop pass and on the Bruins next possession he set Leaf up for a dunk. Ball fed Leaf for another dunk later in the half that made it 85-42.Guys were hitting shots and I was getting them the ball, Ball said. Everything was clicking.The Bruins put the game away in the first half when they shot 58 percent and opened with a 23-9 run.The Highlanders defended better and outscored the Bruins 16-8 to close to 31-25.UCLA ran off 11 unanswered points, including Balls first points of the game on consecutive baskets, and led 42-27 at halftime.BIG PICTUREUC Riverside: The Highlanders have just one win in their first five games, but they have played some good competition. They lost road games to Portland (16 points), UNLV (12 points) and Utah (18 points) before losing to the Bruins. Their lone win came against Fresno Pacific. Last year, they won 14 games, second-most in the Division I history of the program under fourth-year coach Cutts, who has things on the upswing.UCLA: The Bruins have beat up some easy competition on their way to an undefeated start. That all changes Saturday when they face No. 1 Kentucky on the road. The game will be a barometer of where they stand against the nations best.POLL IMPLICATIONSUnless the Bruins can duplicate their upset of top-ranked Kentucky a year ago, they figure to drop a spot or two in the rankings with a loss at Rupp Arena on Saturday.BALL ROLLINGBall broke Pooh Richardsons freshman game assist record of 12, set against Washington State on Jan. 11, 1986. The school record of 16 was set by Earl Watson. For the first time in eight games, Ball didnt score in double figures. He took just three shots.I just take what the game gives me, he said.TIP-INSUC Riverside: The Highlanders fell to 0-5 all-time against the Bruins. ... Martin was averaging a team-best 12.5 points and came in leading the team in several other categories.UCLA: The Bruins ranking matches their best since Feb. 9, 2009. ... They are one of two undefeated Pac-12 teams. ... G Prince Ali, who had right knee surgery in July, could return by late December. ... F Alex Olesinski has missed eight games so far with a stress reaction in his left foot.UP NEXTUC Riverside: Visits Santa Clara on Dec. 13, capping a stretch of three straight road games.UCLA: Plays Kentucky on Saturday for the third consecutive season. The Wildcats have been the nations top-ranked team in each of the meetings. The Bruins upset them 87-77 last year at Pauley Pavilion for the schools first win over a No. 1 team since 2003. In 2014, the Wildcats won in Chicago by 39 points.---More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 . Air Max 90 Clearance . The Dane followed up his first European Tour title last weekend with eight birdies and just a single dropped shot on Thursday for a one-stroke advantage over South Africas Allan Versfeld and Portugals Ricardo Santos. Wholesale Air Max 90 . The news was first reported on Gonzalezs Twitter account and confirmed by the Rockies. Gonzalez has a six-week window before position players have their first workout at spring training in Arizona. http://www.airmax90clearance.com/ .J. -- Marty Brodeur beat the Pittsburgh Penguins yet again. Cheap Air Max 90 Free Shipping . -- Three close looks at the bucket, three misses. Cheap Air Max 90 Wholesale . Neymar curled home a free kick from just outside the area to put the 2014 World Cup host ahead in the 44th minute. Three minutes after the break, a simple through pass from Paulinho freed Oscar and the Chelsea star rounded goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong to extend Brazils lead. PHILADELPHIA -- Aaron Rodgers threw perfect passes, ran for key first downs and did all his talking on the field.Nobody will question his leadership this week.Rodgers had 313 yards passing and tossed two touchdown passes to Davante Adams to help the Green Bay Packers snap a four-game losing streak with a 27-13 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night.The two-time NFL MVP openly criticized his teammates while the losses piled up, causing people to point the finger back at him for the way he handled it. But Packers coach Mike McCarthy praised his quarterbacks approach.His positive attitude has been consistent through all this time, McCarthy said. Hes grown as a quarterback since the start of 2008, and grown as a person all the way through. Hes an excellent leader, always has been.Rodgers hasnt had a losing record since his first season as the starter replacing Brett Favre. Hes led the Packers to seven straight playoff appearances and a Super Bowl title. But the teams recent struggles and some of Rodgers comments made him a target for criticism.Its been a rough stretch, Rodgers said. Were human, so you lose a few in a row and doubt starts to creep in whether or not you can actually finish one of those games off. So for us to finish it off the way we did on offense the last two drives, defensively to come up with a stop, and to finish out the game with a couple of sacks was great for our confidence.Green Bay (5-6) wasnt losing because of Rodgers or the offense. The defense allowed at least 30 points in each of the four previous games and 89 in the past two. Injuries on both sides of the ball didnt help the situation.Rodgers made sure the Packers started fast, leading them to touchdown drives on the first two possessions. They took hostile crowd out of the game early and became the firsst team to win in Philadelphia (5-6) this season.ddddddddddddBen Roethlisberger and the Steelers only managed a field goal against the Eagles in Week 3. Matt Ryan and the Falcons had their lowest scoring output (15 points) here on Nov. 13.The victory kept Green Bays sinking playoff hopes alive but the Packers are still two games behind the Lions (7-4) in the NFC North.Theres a big difference between 4-7 and 5-6 for sure, but I hope theres not a ton of relief because we still have a lot of things in front of us wed like to accomplish, Rodgers said. This is a step in the right direction, a game we needed to take care of business, but we have a short week with Houston coming in and we have to have a similar performance.Rodgers showed off his accuracy under the prime-time lights, going 30 for 39. He made two passes to Adams that will make all the highlight tapes.Rodgers threw a perfect 20-yard TD pass to Adams to give the Packers a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter. Nolan Carroll had excellent coverage on the play, but Rodgers put the ball in a tight spot and hit Adams in stride in the back of the end zone.After Ha Ha Clinton-Dix intercepted Carson Wentz in the third quarter, Rodgers connected with Adams again. Adams was covered well on a deep pass, but Rodgers threw it in the right spot and Adams made an outstanding over-the-shoulder catch for a 50-yard gain.When Aaron gets in a rhythm and he starts finding guys ... and making great throws, thats the offense were accustomed to having, right tackle Brian Bulaga said.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Rob Maaddi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP-RobMaaddi ' ' '
