Feb. 22, 1998

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) - No. 2 Duke made a strong bid to reclaim the nation's top ranking with a 120-84 victory over No. 12 UCLA on Sunday as Trajan Langdon matched his career-high with 34 points to lead the dominating performance that saw the most points ever allowed by the Bruins.

Duke (25-2) or No. 3 Arizona, with the nation's longest winning streak, will likely rise to the top of the poll following No. 1 North Carolina's 86-72 home loss to N.C. State on Saturday. It could be Duke's third stint as the top-ranked team this season.

UCLA (20-6) began playing basketball in 1919 and the most points allowed had been 116 to Stanford in double overtime in 1987.

Duke wasted little time showing it may belong on top again - five games removed from losing the No. 1 ranking with a 24-point loss at North Carolina. The two Atlantic Coast Conference powers meet here for a rematch on Saturday.

The Blue Devils scored 57 points on the stunned Bruins in the opening 20 minutes, shooting 56 percent, making 10 of 17 3-pointers and blocking seven shots to go up by 24 points at halftime.

It was the 16th half this season Duke has scored 50 of more points.

Roshown McLeod added 23 points for Duke, which ran its non-conference record in Cameron Indoor Stadium to 114-2 since 1983.

Kris Johnson led UCLA with 20 points, while Baron Davis added 18 before fouling out with 4:03 left.

UCLA got off on the wrong foot when leading scorer J.R. Henderson picked up three quick fouls and played only five minutes of the first half, sitting out the final 13:23 after being called for an offensive foul.

Henderson's second half didn't begin any better. Less than two minutes in he was called for another offensive foul as UCLA fell behind by as many as 31 with 15:56 left. Henderson fouled out with 6:43 left, scoring 14 points to break his four-game string of 20-point games.

The Bruins got in a hole early as Langdon was on fire, scoring 21 of his points in the opening half, hitting 5-of-6 3-pointers and 7-of-8 shots overall.

He scored 10 of Duke's first 18 points, including eight in a 19-3 run as the Blue Devils took control of the game - which had an NCAA tournament type of atmosphere - early on.

The game also marked the return of Duke freshman center Elton Brand, who was sidelined since Dec. 27 with a broken left foot. He entered the game at the 13:58 mark of the first half and grabbed a rebound six seconds later. He scored his first field goal four minutes before halftime and finished with 14 points and seven rebounds in 16 minutes.

Toby Bailey of UCLA scored 17 points to move past Gail Goodrich and into 10th place on the school's career scoring list.

The loss wasn't the Bruins' worst of the season as they lost 109-68 to North Carolina in the Great Alaska Shootout in November.