A talented UCLA team withstood its toughest test yet, holding on to beat Nebraska 82-71 in the semifinals of the Wooden Legacy tournament Friday night at Cal State Fullerton's Titan Gym in Fullerton, Calif.

All five starters scored in double figures for the 14th-ranked Bruins (6-0). Bryce Alford had a team-high 18 points, Isaac Hamilton had 15 and Thomas Welsh recorded a double-double, posting 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Lonzo Ball scored 13 points for UCLA. T.J. Leaf had 12.

Glynn Watson Jr. had a career-high 27 points for Nebraska (4-1), which was trying to match its best start since the 2008-09 team won its first five games. Tai Webster had 19 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

UCLA will play Texas A&M in Sunday's championship game at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Nebraska will play Virginia Tech in the third-place game.

"UCLA is an excellent team," Nebraska coach Tim Miles said. "Coach Alford has a lot of weapons on that team, a lot of guys that can hurt you."

Friday's game was just the ninth time UCLA and Nebraska have met. It was their first meeting since the 1985 NIT and their first regular-season matchup since 1956.

UCLA was leading the nation in scoring at 104.4 points per game going into the contest. The Bruins, who will visit No. 1 Kentucky on Dec. 3, reached the century mark in three of their first four games and nearly did it again in a 99-77 victory over Portland on Thursday. Nebraska had held its last three opponents under 40-percent shooting and was allowing just 57.8 points per game.

The Bruins started fast with back-to-back 3-pointers by Leaf, but a 3-pointer by Anton Gill put Nebraska up 10-9. The Cornhuskers were still within three following a three-point play by Watson with less than six minutes remaining in the opening half, but the Bruins used a 9-0 burst to take a 31-19 lead.

UCLA led 38-25 at the break and went up by 15 early in the second period, but Nebraska battled back. The Cornhuskers started going inside, scoring 16 of their first 23 points in the paint. They cut the deficit to nine on a layup by Ed Morrow and got within five on a layup by Webster.

After the Bruins let their lead dwindle to two with 9:26 remaining, Ball and Hamilton delivered big 3-pointers to help them get it back to 10. The Cornhuskers made one more charge to get within five on a 3-pointer by Watson, but another clutch 3-pointer by Hamilton helped the Bruins hold on.

"We haven't had to deal with getting punched in the face like we got punched and I liked how we responded," UCLA coach Steve Alford said. "We did the things we had to do."

UCLA shot 51.6 percent from the field, made 9 of 23 from 3-point range and blocked eight shots.

Nebraska shot 38.7 percent and made just 6 of 24 from beyond the arc. Jack McVeigh, the team's third-leading scorer at 12.3 points per game, was held to one point on 0-of-8 shooting.

"I told the team that we needed this game," Alford said. "We haven't had a game like that this year where adversity hit us. We played awfully well in the first half defensively and felt we got comfortable and satisfied. It was a great lesson for us."

NOTES: Thursday's victory over Dayton gave Nebraska coach Tim Miles 350 career wins. ... UCLA tied a tournament record for scoring and set a record with 29 assists in a 99-77 victory over Portland in the opening round. ... UCLA F/C Ike Anigbogu made his college debut after recovering from meniscus surgery, posting two points, two rebounds, two blocked shots and one assist.