Bruins' Honeycutt excels on biggest stage

Bruins' Honeycutt excels on biggest stage
By MARK WHICKER
COLUMNIST
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Published: Jan. 22, 2011
Updated: 7:28 p.m.


LOS ANGELES – Don't tell Virginia Commonwealth or Montana, lest they consider applying for Pac-10 membership.

But UCLA has a four-game winning streak in conference play and might really have a shot at its first Final 68 in two seasons.

Much of that, maybe too much, depends on Tyler Honeycutt.

Deprived of Josh Smith (head injury) and forced to compensate for Reeves Nelson's rare aimlessness, the Bruins had to wipe out a 14-point deficit to Stanford on Saturday using their little guys.

Since one of them is the 6-foot-8 Honeycutt, that worked.

Since Stanford is Stanford, that worked well, as UCLA was just gathering strength at the end of this 68-57 victory.

Malcolm Lee and Lazeric Jones brought 21 free throws from the UCLA backcourt and made 19 of them, which helped.

They also made a total of three turnovers in 69 minutes, and Jones had six rebounds, which made Honeycutt smile and applaud in Jones' presence when someone mentioned it.

And Honeycutt scored 16 with eight rebounds, four blocks and three assists.

"There's no question he's a key," Coach Ben Howland said. "We were able to go small at times today and have him play the 4 position (power forward), because he could match up with their 4s. But he's a difficult matchup for the other team's 4.

"It's reminiscent of what we used to do with Dijon Thompson. We would play him at the 4 and he would cause a lot of problems, plus he'd get nine rebounds a game."

The Bruins will be quite good in the biggest games if Smith can remain on the floor for 30 minutes and if Honeycutt can touch his own upper reaches.

They have lost six games. In four, Honeycutt has shot 13 for 42.

He was NBA-brilliant at Kansas, with 33 points and nine rebounds, and he put together 18 and 13 against Virginia Commonwealth.

Coincidentally those two games were on holy ground, in Allen Fieldhouse and Madison Square Garden.

On Saturday, Honeycutt did what he needs to do more often. He played like a winner in more familiar surroundings.

"We didn't have much energy early, but then we got rolling," Honeycutt said, as Howland kept mentioning that the Bruins had to come back from a Thursday night game to greet this 11 a.m. tipoff (as did Stanford, of course).

Two years ago, Honeycutt was ranked 31st in the nation by Bob Gibbons and was the top Pac-10 recruit on that list. Last year he was banged up and probably a little disoriented by the general mess at UCLA.

He has the lift you would expect from a star volleyball player, which he was at Sylmar High. He can do most everything you'd want. It is a matter of figuring out which card to play and playing it each night.

"I thought I started off strong this year but then I struggled the last couple of games," Honeycutt said. "I've struggled with my shooting so I've tried to do it a different way, rebounding and defense.

"I try to give us whatever we need, whether it's four blocks or 15 rebounds or guarding the best player on the other team."

Lee is wearing the sheriff's badge on defense these days. "He might be the best wing defender in the country," Howland said.

Well, at least in the 310 area code.

Lee did shut off Oregon State's Jared Cunningham last week and had Cal freshman Allen Crabbe bottled up until he fouled out Thursday.

Here, Stanford's Jeremy Green shot 4 for 15 with Lee primarily dogging him. But then Green was even worse in Galen Center on Thursday night, going 2 for 9 against Marcus

Simmons, who has been taking top scorers into custody for a few years now.

The difference is that Lee can score, with 23 against Stanford.

But when Lee had to come out, Honeycutt took over Green. He also hit a 20-footer, two foul shots and a 3-pointer late in the first half to lead a game-tying 13-0 run.
The first of those baskets was the one that stressed how good Honeycutt, and by extension UCLA, can be.

He was open for the 3-pointer but pulled the ball down and moved up inside the arc. Anthony Brown of Stanford moved out and had his hands up, and Honeycutt had to fling it, under duress.

It still swished.

When lesser players try shots like that, they're forcing. Had Honeycutt missed he might have been invited to sit near Howland.

Honeycutt smiled at the memory.

"There wasn't much time on the clock," he said. "It was a tough one but when it went in I got a lot more confidence."

Can confidence equal belief? On Thursday it's on to Arizona's McKale Center, another big stage to bring out Honeycutt's high notes.