Freshman Tyler Honeycutt has 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Bruins. Photo credit: Daily BruinUCLA gets past Oregon State, 65-56
By Chris Foster
The Los Angeles Times
February 26, 2010
UCLA's postseason destination, if any, this basketball season, still has fill-in-the-blank possibilities.
The Bruins still have high hopes -- the NCAA tournament -- with a low-rent possibility -- a first-round home game in the NIT -- as well as the unacceptable, as the $60,000 per home game guarantee the College Basketball Invitational demands is probably too steep of a price.
A 65-56 victory over Oregon State at Pauley Pavilion Thursday may not inspire many whimsical NCAA tournament daydreams, but in Westwood these days, a win is a win.
The Bruins teetered, and Tyler Honeycutt propped them up. The Beavers cut a 12-point Bruins lead to 50-49 with 4 minutes 42 seconds left. Honeycutt, who scored 18 points, sank a three-pointer and then had a steal that sent Malcolm Lee off for an uncontested layup.
All of which meant the Bruins (13-14 overall, 8-7 in Pacific 10 Conference play) will wake up tied for third in the conference standings Friday morning.
"This definitely helps us as we get closer to the [conference] tournament," said Honeycutt, who made seven of 10 shots. "Maybe we can get a couple more wins and get into second place."
More performances from Honeycutt like Thursday's could help that along. He had 10 rebounds, four assists, three steals and five blocks.
"When was the last time we had someone with five blocks?" UCLA Coach Ben Howland said. "Not this season."
Said Honeycutt: "We just have come out and do it again Saturday [against Oregon]."
That would fit nicely into the Bruins' plan.
"We're looking at the Pac-10 and the NCAA tournament," Honeycutt said. "If the NIT happens, it happens, but that was not one of our goals heading into the season."
Or any season, as senior guard Michael Roll sees it.
"I don't even know anything about the NIT," Roll said. "I heard rumors, maybe that the girls got invited couple years ago and UCLA turned it down. I don't know if we've even played in the NIT here, just because of the success we've had in the [NCAA]."
The Bruins have played in the NIT . . . twice.
"There's no proof about that," Roll said.
There could be. The Bruins had what could be called a banner season in 1985, winning the NIT, if they would only hang the banner.
"Our goal is to try to win the Pac-10 tournament," Howland said this week.
The Bruins' only hope of extending their NCAA tournament run to six consecutive seasons is by winning the conference tournament. But pulling off three victories in three nights seemed an iffy proposition even before injuries set in.
The Bruins have lost forward James Keefe (shoulder surgery) for the remainder of the season, and could be without forward Reeves Nelson (torn retina) as well, leaving them thin on the inside. Brendan Lane sat out Thursday because of a sprained ankle. Nikola Dragovic injured his left shoulder Thursday but still scored 14 points.
Howland went with a three-guard lineup at the start of Thursday's game, and Oregon State (12-15, 6-9) had a 40-24 rebounding edge.
But the Beavers shot 35% and made only three of 20 three-pointers.
"I'd like to take credit for it, but they missed a lot of wide-open shots that went our way, thank God," Howland said.
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UCLA basketball: Honeycutt sharp in Bruins victory
By Chris Foster
The Los Angeles Times
February 25, 2010 | 10:11 pm
UCLA forward Tyler Honeycutt was the standout player in a game that had few standout moments.
Honeycutt scored 18 points to push the Bruins to a 65-56 victory over Oregon State at Pauley Pavilion on Thursday. The victory left UCLA (13-14 overall, 8-7 in Pacific 10 Conference play) tied for third-place in the conference standings.
The Beavers (12-15, 6-9) cut a onetime 12-point UCLA lead to 50-49 with 4 minutes 42 seconds left. But Honeycutt sank a three-pointer, then had a steal that ended in a Malcolm Lee layup. Oregon State never got closer than five points the remainder of the game.
Honeycutt made seven of 10 shots. He also had 10 rebounds and four assists.
UCLA shot 52% from the field, playing with a smaller lineup. Forward James Keefe (shoulder surgery) is out for the season and forward Reeves Nelson (torn retina) is also out.
As a result, UCLA was out-rebounded, 40-24. But the Beavers shot only 35% and were three for 20 on three-pointers.
Nikola Dragovic finished with 14 points and Lee 13 for UCLA.
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The Tyler Honeycutt Show
by Blair Angulo
Blair Angulo is a student at UCLA and a writer for the Daily Bruin. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/bangulo.
UCLA blog on espn.com
February, 25, 2010
Reeves Nelson and Brendan Lane were in street clothes on Thursday night, meaning coach Ben Howland would be without two of his big men against Oregon State.
Due to the injuries, senior Nikola Dragovic shifted to the center spot -- though the term is used loosely since the 6-foot-9 forward hovered around the three-point line anyway. Without an inside presence, UCLA allowed 21 offensive rebounds, yet still found a way to win 65-56 at Pauley Pavilion.
Freshman Tyler Honeycutt, the best rebounder on the team, was a big part of that. The lanky 6-foot-7 forward stepped up in Nelson's absence, posting his third double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds. The 18 points were a career-high (previous was 14) for Honeycutt, who also had a career-high five blocked shots.
"I knew I was going to have to rebound a lot more, especially because we were smaller," Honeycutt said afterward.
No other UCLA player had more than three rebounds. Dragovic grabbed two in 35 minutes and sophomore J'mison Morgan, who stands at 6-foot-10, did not have any in 12 minutes.
"They have a freshman [Honeycutt] who stood up and played like a senior tonight," Oregon State coach Craig Robinson said.
Morgan got an opportunity just three minutes in when Howland called on him after Dragovic injured his shoulder while diving for a loose ball. He received a nice response after blocking a shot, but then missed a dunk shortly after to balance his book. With Honeycutt playing the way he was, Morgan took a seat next to Nelson for much of the second half.
When Howland interrupted the course of his press conference to ask Honeycutt how many double-doubles he had this season, Honeycutt answered correctly.
"That’s great, see, he knows," Howland said with a wide grin. "It’s a good thing to know. We want him to know. There’s no such thing as a selfish rebounder."
Having lost three of four heading into Thursday, UCLA sure needed one.
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