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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 . Ryan Vogelsong Jersey . The Clippers were angry about blowing a big lead; the Kings didnt like being in that kind of hole and nearly digging themselves out only to lose. Danny Murtaugh Jersey . Burke is expected to miss two to three months after breaking a finger in the teams third preseason game. Tinsley, a 10-year veteran, spent the last two seasons in Utah, where the point guard averaged 3. https://www.cheappiratesjerseys.us/132e-bill-mazeroski-jersey-pirates.html . -- There were a lot of firsts for the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. Geoff Hartlieb Jersey . Carey Price didnt, but he still came out on top against one of his rivals for the No. 1 job at the Sochi Games. The Anahim Lake, B.C., native was stellar in making 39 saves in his home province and Lars Eller got credit for a bizarre short-handed winner as the Canadiens defeated the Canucks 4-1. Vic Willis Jersey . 31, the CFL club announced Monday. The team also has yet to decide on the future of Doug Berry, who began the season as a consultant to the head coach but took over the offensive co-ordinators duties in July. RIO -- At first glance, it is a mildly comical sight. Grown men, lying flat on their tummies, perching up wth a rifle in hand. However, the Prone event is seriously tough business. A competitor has to stay 50 minutes in that posture to get 60 shots across to a target placed 50 metres away. The centre of the target is positioned 0.75 metres above the floor.The diameter of the target is breathtakingly tiny at 154.4 millimetres but get this, that isnt what the shooters aim for. The fourth ring within that target is 106.4 millimetres and just because somehow that isnt challenging enough to shoot at, the tenth ring, where a shot can be worth 10.9 points measures 10.4 millimetres.The security checks at the Olympic shooting range were slower than usual so by the time I walked in on Friday morning, Gagan Narang was already through the first three series of the qualifying rounds. 104.7. 104.4. 104.6. Steady, consistent scores and while he wouldnt have known with the scoreboard placed behind the shooters, he was snapping at the heels of the early leaders. The intention at this point was to finish among the top eight, with the scores from this stage of the competition being discarded in the final.Narang, in his fourth Olympics, was at the extreme right end of the field of 47 shooters, with only two others farther away. For most of his career Narang was primarily a 10m Air Rifle shooter - he won his Olympic bronze in London in 2012 in this category. But since those Games he turned his attention to Prone as a neck injury forced him out of contention in the Air Rifle. The differences in the two competitions are significant.Besides the obvious ones that the shooter stands in the Air Rifle and lies down in Prone and shoots over 10m in the Air Rifle and 50m in the Prone, there are other major adjustments to make. The Air Rifle can not weigh more than 5.5 kilograms while the one used in Prone can be up to 8 kilograms in weight. The nature of the ammunition too varies, with the Prone using a 0.22 inch caliber bullet while the Air Rifle is shot with 0.177 inch pellet. The Air Rifle is indoors and hence competed in a controlled environment. Prone is outdoors and shooters are expected to conquer elements such as windy conditions and extreme weather.Now to us casual observers, that sounds like a bunch of gobbledygook but for those in the business of shooting, to master these vastly differrent skill sets is a massive challenge.ddddddddddddNarang had to because of his injury and made encouraging progress. At the 2014 Commonwealth games in Glasgow, he won silver in the event and earned his quota place for the Rio games in Prone too. So even when he squandered a strong start in the 10m Air Rifle qualification earlier in the week to finish in 23rd place, Narang didnt let his shoulders droop.He knew he had his new baby to fall back on.Series four begins and the first blip appears on Narangs radar. 103. The knowledgeable heads seated alongside me start to get a bit shifty. Frayed nerves are settled as series five is recorded at 104. Ten shots to go and this should be in the bag. Five more and Narang is in seventh spot. And then, he experiences his Jitu Rai moment. Just like his pistol colleague who floundered at about the same stage in his event, the wind picks up and Narang lets the shot go that would kill him.9.5There is an audible gasp. He needs a sizzling finish to recover now but it doesnt come. Lower 10s end his series at 102.4. On a cumulative score of 623.1, Narang tumbles to 13th. German Henri Junhaenel would qualify on 624.8. Only 1.7 points when you read a colourless scoresheet, in shooting parlance the margin between elite and the also rans.Narang is a broken man as he stands up to examine the ruins of his day. A quiet conversation with his coach, an exasperated waft through his hair, hands on hips, he stares blankly into the distance as the range starts to empty out.Shot 56. 9.5. Goddamn it. This micro second of a moment will return to his dreams for years.I gave my best, I gave it all I had, he tells us quote seekers. I will have to go back and think what exactly happened. I will have to run it through my mind again.At 33, Narang is no stranger to combating gut-wrenching disappointments. He does stoic easily at most times but one senses that on this day, his spirit is broken. He leaves sentences incomplete, he speaks in a soft, near inaudible voice, he struggles to count the positives.He watches the final later, ironically won by Junhaenel, the German who qualified in eighth spot. 1.7 points ahead of Narang.That 9.5. Goddamn it.I would like to shoot more, he wearily tells us. This is definitely not the end for me. ' ' '
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