Great first PAC-10 game for Zeke Jones, who finishes with a double-double, 10 pts, 11 assists (1 turnover). Malcolm Lee scores 21. Both Reeves Nelson and Joshua Smith were hampered by foul trouble throughout most of the game but Reeves finishes with 21 pts, 11 rbds and Joshua with 8 pts, 6 rbds, 2 steals and a block. Tyler Honeycutt chips in 14 pts, 9 rbds with one Kevin Love/Ed OBannon-esque length of the court pass to Reeves for the basket.
UCLA rallies to beat Washington St.
By SCOTT M. REID
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Published: Dec. 29, 2010
Updated: 11:02 p.m.
LOS ANGELES – UCLA extended its winning streak to six games with an 80-71 comeback victory against Washington State in the teams' Pac-10 opener Wednesday night at Pauley Pavilion.
UCLA's Reeves Nelson dunks after a fast break in front of Washington State's Abe Lodwick during the first half at Pauley Pavilion Wednesday night.KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTERThe Bruins' big three — forwards Reeves Nelson and Tyler Honeycutt and guard Malcolm Lee — combined for 33 points in a second half in which UCLA (9-4 overall, 1-0 Pac-10) overcame a significant first half deficit and then pulled steadily away from the Cougars (10-3, 0-1).
Having trailed by 11 points in the first half, UCLA opened the second half with a 24-12 run. Lazeric Jones' 3-point jumper gave the Bruins the lead first good with 14:40 left. Thirty-seconds later Lee tossed in another 3-pointer.
UCLA's Malcolm Lee tries to get a shot off under pressure from Washington State's DeAngelo Casto and Klay Thompson as Joshua Smith look on at right during the first half at Pauley Pavilion Wednesday night. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTERLee finished with 21 points, equaling the team high with Nelson, but his biggest contribution came on the defensive end shadowing WSU's All-America candidate guard Klay Thompson. Thompson, the former Santa Margarita High standout, finished with a game-high 26 points, but was held by Lee and Co. to 6-of-17 shooting from the field, 3 for 11 in the second half.
Honeycutt, playing with a sore right shoulder, added 14 points for UCLA, 12 in the second half.
UCLA now plays host to preseason Pac-10 favorite Washington. The Huskies needed overtime to hold off USC, 73-67, Wednesday night.
UCLA started strong, then struggled through the latter stages of the first half, before finally putting the game out of reach with a strong performance on both ends in the second half.
The Bruins shot 61 percent from the field in the second half, including going 4 for 7 from behind the 3-point line.
UCLA went up, 18-12, on Tyler Lamb's 10-foot jumper with 13:32 left in the first half but the Cougars outscored the Bruins, 25-11, the rest of the half to take 37-29 lead at halftime.
After hitting their first three shots out of the gate, the Bruins were 9 for 27 from the field the rest of the half and just 2 for 11 from behind the 3-point line overall for the first half.
Washington State meanwhile was shooting 51.9 percent from the field, hitting 3 of 4 3-point attempts. After being shut down by UCLA early, Thompson piled up 14 points by halftime.
With Bruins freshman center Joshua Smith limited to just nine minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, Washington State dominated the boards, 20-12.
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Nelson, Lee score 21 as UCLA wrestles win from Washington State
By Jon Gold, Staff Writer
The Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 12/29/2010 10:31:04 PM PST
Updated: 12/29/2010 11:34:10 PM PST
Going from a last-place finish last season to a 10-2 start this season, Washington State became the new darling of the Pacific-10 Conference, with some saying the Cougars could even compete for the championship.
Meanwhile, the UCLA basketball team was chided despite an 8-4 start, relegated to also-ran status because of a loss to Montana and less-than-convincing wins over UC Irvine, UC Davis and Pepperdine.
Perhaps the pundits were premature.
UCLA led early, stumbled a bit and then picked it right back up, breaking away from the Cougars late with an 80-71 victory Wednesday night at Pauley Pavilion in both teams' conference openers.
"I'm really proud of our team, the way we showed the character to fight back," Howland said of the Bruins, who shot 61 percent in the second half to the Cougars' 38 percent. "We really fed off the crowd in the second half."
After losing an early lead and then some, a two-point advantage becoming an 11-point deficit in less than three minutes, UCLA wrested control back from Washington State early in the second half, Pauley Pavilion rocking once more, louder than it has been in two years.
All it took to wrestle back the lead? A little wrestling.
The Bruins retook control in the second half after a 3-point barrage by Tyler Honeycutt, Lazeric Jones and Malcolm Lee put the team on top by four with 13:34 remaining, before sophomore forward Reeves Nelson took to the mat.
Nelson had nine of UCLA's next 13 points as the team stretched the lead to nine.
Nelson and Lee each finished with 21 points and Honeycutt added 14 for the Bruins, who got their sixth straight win.
"I like when it's distributed, like (it was against) BYU," Honeycutt said. "Our whole starting five is in double-figures, which is a good thing. We can hurt you in many different ways. It's not like there is one key guy you can key in on."
The same can't be said about Washington State and junior guard Klay Thompson, who leads the Pac-10 in scoring, and finished with a game-high 26 points.
Thompson hit a out-from-nowhere running 3-pointer to give the Cougars' their first lead at 23-22 with just under seven minutes left in the first half, after the Bruins maintained a steady lead early. Thompson would add another 3-pointer and four free throws and backup Faizel Aden hit back-to-back deep shots, including a 3-pointer, during a 19-9 run to end the first half.
"They went on a little run there to close the first half, and we all rallied in the locker room together," Nelson said. "We talked over what we needed to do, and mainly we started with stopping them in transition."
That all started with stopping point guard Reggie Moore, and unlike last season, the Bruins actually did that.
After scoring 24 points at Pauley Pavilion in a 74-62 UCLA win on Jan. 23 last season, Moore had just five on Wednesday as Jones forced him into 1-for-7 shooting.
"I'm shocked he only had five," Howland said. "Is that right? That's a heck of a job. Reggie Moore is a really good player. That's a great job."
Jones' offensive effort, though, was more impressive, as he added 10 points and a career-high 11 assists, with just one turnover, while Moore picked up four fouls.
The Bruins were in a more precarious foul situation toward the end of the game, though, as Nelson, Lee and freshman center Joshua Smith each had four fouls. Howland didn't panic, however, letting Nelson and Lee play it out while re-inserting Smith back into the game with just more than seven minutes left, then rotating the big man with sophomore forward Brendan Lane on defense.
Smith said he was surprised when Howland called his number so early in the game despite the foul trouble, but believes his coach is developing trust in his ability to play with care.
"I have to be ready at all times," Smith said. "I picked up my fourth foul with 13 minutes left, and coach was telling me to be positive. I really got down on myself on that fourth foul, and I honestly didn't think I'd play until toward the end. He had trust in me, my teammates had trust in me, and I had trust in them."
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UCLA beats Washington State, 80-71, in Pac-10 opener
The Bruins rally for a victory over the Cougars, with sophomore forwards Reeves Nelson and Tyler Honeycutt leading the charge.
By Ben Bolch
The Los Angeles Times
11:50 PM PST, December 29, 2010
The start of the "season within a season," as UCLA Coach Ben Howland likes to call Pacific 10 Conference play, had an unfamiliar feel to it.
And that was a good thing for the Bruins.
UCLA was the team putting together the inspired comeback and playing crisply in the final minutes for a change, rallying for an 80-71 victory over Washington State on Wednesday night at Pauley Pavilion.
Sophomore forwards Reeves Nelson and Tyler Honeycutt led the charge for the Bruins, who used a 20-6 spurt at the beginning of the second half and some stingy defense over the final 20 minutes to pull out their sixth consecutive victory.
"I'm really proud of our team, the way we showed the character to fight back," said Howland, whose team had been on the other end of recent rallies by Montana State and UC Irvine. "This is a huge win for us."
Nelson finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds and Honeycutt had 14 points and nine rebounds in his return from a sprained right shoulder. The pair did most of its damage after a halftime locker room discussion among the Bruins, who then trailed by eight points.
"We're a team and we like to talk, so that's what we did," said Nelson, whose 13 second-half points were one more than Honeycutt scored over that span.
The duo hooked up on the play that seemed to seal the Cougars' fate. Honeycutt secured a rebound and fired a long outlet pass to Nelson, who bulled his way toward the basket for a layup that gave the Bruins a 62-54 lead with 6½ minutes to play.
"I just hope Coach [Rick] Neuheisel wasn't at the game," Nelson said, referring to the Bruins' football coach who was indeed in attendance. "He might need a new quarterback and receiver with me and Tyler."
Malcolm Lee provided a two-way threat, scoring 21 points and playing admirable defense on Washington State guard Klay Thompson. The Pac-10's leading scorer had 26 points but made only six of 17 shots, crediting the Bruins with changing their defensive approach on him in the second half.
"They stopped me from getting to the rim and made me pull up more," Thompson said.
The Bruins (9-4, 1-0) held Washington State (10-3, 0-1) to 37.9% shooting in the second half while making 60.7% of their shots.
The way UCLA opened the second half prompted the same fans who had verbally chastised the Bruins in the first half to suddenly rise to their feet in applause.
Honeycutt scored eight points during the 20-6 run, including back-to-back three-pointers, and Lazeric Jones and Lee each added a shot from beyond the arc to give UCLA a 49-43 lead.
"I haven't seen our crowd that loud in a long time," Honeycutt said.
Jones finished with 10 points and a career-high 11 assists, with only one turnover. Nelson and UCLA center Joshua Smith both managed to avoid fouling out after Smith picked up his fourth foul with 10:16 to go and Nelson with 9:10 remaining.
"You don't want to foul out," Nelson said. "You have to be less aggressive and be smarter about how you play."
Honeycutt was far more assertive in the second half, taking seven of his 11 shots as UCLA won for the first time in five games this season when trailing at halftime.
"We were having fun out there," Honeycutt said. "The momentum was flowing for us and we were playing well defensively as well."
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Bruins Beat Cougars in Pac-10 Opener, 80-71
Reeves Nelson and Malcolm Lee scored 21 points apiece for UCLA.
from The Official UCLA Men's Basketball website
Dec. 30, 2010
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Reeves Nelson and Malcolm Lee scored 21 points apiece to lift UCLA to a come-from-behind 80-71 victory over Washington State Wednesday night.
Nelson and fellow sophomore Tyler Honeycutt, who finished with 14 points, did most of their damage in the second half, after the Bruins found themselves training by eight points at halftime in the Pac-10 opener for both schools.
Nelson was held to eight points in the first half and Honeycutt, back from a one-game absence because of a sprained shoulder, scored 12 of his points after the break.
Honeycutt, UCLA's leading scorer, ignited a 20-6 run that brought the Bruins (9-4) back from a 37-29 halftime deficit. Honeycutt scored eight of the Bruins' 20 points during that run, with six coming on two 3-point baskets.
Washington State (10-3) lost its second in a row.
The Bruins connected on their first five field goals, but the Cougars stayed close before scoring 13 straight points to turn a two-point deficit into a 33-22 lead. Klay Thompson connected on two 3-point baskets during the spurt.
Faisal Aden contributed with a couple of jumpers, one from 15 feet out and the other from beyond the 3-point mark.
The Bruins did their best to clamp down defensively on Thompson. The Cougars' leading scorer scored 14 points in the first half and finished with a game-high 26 points.
Aden finished with 19 points, but the Cougars were unable to match the 52 percent shooting percentage that they had in the opening 20 minutes. Washington State connected on just 11 of its 29 field-goal attempts -- 38 percent -- in the second half.
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UCLA rallies to beat Washington State 80-71
rivals.com, Yahoo Sports.com
8 hours, 25 minutes ago
LOS ANGELES (AP)—Reeves Nelson and Malcolm Lee scored 21 points apiece to lift UCLA to a come-from-behind 80-71 victory over Washington State Wednesday night.
Nelson and fellow sophomore Tyler Honeycutt, who finished with 14 points, did most of their damage in the second half, after the Bruins found themselves training by eight points at halftime in the Pac-10 opener for both schools.
Nelson was held to eight points in the first half and Honeycutt, back from a one-game absence because of a sprained shoulder, scored 12 of his points after the break.
Honeycutt, UCLA’s leading scorer, ignited a 20-6 run that brought the Bruins (9-4) back from a 37-29 halftime deficit. Honeycutt scored eight of the Bruins’ 20 points during that run, with six coming on two 3-point baskets.
Washington State (10-3) lost its second in a row.
Click on boxscore to enlarge
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