UCLA's Joshua Smith (34) is congratulated by teammates Reeves Nelson, left, Malcolm Lee, second from right, and Lazeric Jones, right, after dunking and drawing a foul during the first half. DANNY MOLOSHOK, APBruins walk off with a victory over Beavers
UCLA wins, 69-61, despite committing 26 turnovers and giving up 24 offensive rebounds. But Tyler Honeycutt has eight of the Bruins' 16 blocked shots.
By Ben Bolch
The Los Angeles Times
7:30 PM PST, February 12, 2011
It was 15 seconds of fame they would probably rather give back.
A UCLA victory over Oregon State seemed secure Saturday afternoon at Pauley Pavilion when Bruins Coach Ben Howland sent walk-ons Matt DeMarcus, Tyler Trapani, Blake Arnet and Alex Schrempf into the game.
The Bruins held a 16-point lead with only 58 seconds remaining. What could possibly go wrong?
Uneasy UCLA fans quickly found out. Two rapid-fire turnovers by the Bruins and six unanswered points by the Beavers later, Howland was forced to reinsert his starters with 43 seconds left.
"I didn't want to have to take them out," Howland said of his walk-ons, "but I obviously don't want to lose the game."
Ultimately, the Bruins held on for a 69-61 victory in what qualified as their most creative near miss of the season.
Junior guard Malcolm Lee continued his offensive surge with 19 points and sophomore forward Tyler Honeycutt led one giant block party for the Bruins, whose 16 rejections tied the school record they had set against UC Irvine on Nov. 23, 1990.
"I just tried to keep protecting the rim," said Honeycutt, whose eight blocks were the most by a Bruin since Jelani McCoy recorded a school-record 11 against Maryland on Dec. 9, 1995.
There were plenty of statistical oddities in UCLA's fifth consecutive victory, which allowed the Bruins (18-7 overall, 9-3 Pacific 10) to maintain their hold on second place in the conference.
UCLA won a game in which it committed 26 turnovers, gave up 24 offensive rebounds and yielded 31 more shot attempts to its opponent than it took. Those numbers were offset by the Bruins' shooting 48.7% to Oregon State's 32.9% and attempting 20 more free throws than the Beavers (9-15, 4-9).
As far as Howland was concerned, the statistic that mattered most was that his team improved to 17-0 this season in games in which it has held at least a 10-point lead.
"I would like to keep that streak going," Howland said.
UCLA's 13th consecutive victory over Oregon State — the longest active streak by a Pac-10 team over a conference rival — appeared to be a given when the Bruins raced to a 24-6 lead thanks to suffocating defense and some dazzling plays.
Honeycutt made a nifty bounce pass to Joshua Smith (15 points) that resulted in a three-point play for the freshman center after he was fouled on a one-handed dunk. Smith's ensuing free throw gave UCLA an 18-point advantage and seemed to sink the Beavers, who made only two of their first 18 shots.
But a rash of Bruins turnovers fueled a 19-5 Oregon State run that pulled the Beavers to within four points early in the second half. That's when the normally defense-oriented Lee started to do his thing on offense, going in for two layups and then driving the baseline for a dunk that gave UCLA a 38-29 lead.
"I'm just being aggressive," said Lee, who has averaged 17.6 points over his last seven games.
The Bruins also locked down on defense, increasing their lead to 22 points with 6:56 remaining. Honeycutt had six of his blocks in the second half, many coming on plays in which he came over to help defend against a Beaver who had driven past one of his teammates.
"It's really good that we have guys that can come out of nowhere and defend and get blocked shots like Honeycutt was doing," Lee said.
UCLA still held a 68-52 lead when the walk-ons entered for a rare cameo. But one turnover in the backcourt by Arnet and another by DeMarcus, and suddenly that cushion wasn't so comfortable.
"It was almost kind of funny," Honeycutt said. "The crowd was laughing because it happened so fast. They weren't really prepared to play and I'm sure they will be next time."
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UCLA forward Tyler Honeycutt steals the ball from Oregon State guard Lathen Wallace in the first half Saturday at Pauley Pavilion. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times / February 12, 2011)UCLA leaves Oregon State feeling stuffed
BY SCOTT M. REID
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Published: Feb. 12, 2011
Updated: 11:29 p.m.
LOS ANGELES – Meet Tyler Honeycutt, mayor of Rejection City.
Honeycutt threw a block party Saturday afternoon and everyone was invited.
Or at least so it seemed.
The UCLA sophomore forward swatted, redirected, stuffed and unequivocally rejected eight Oregon State shots in a 69-61 Bruins victory at Pauley Pavilion.
Honeycutt, whose eight blocked shots are the most in the Pac-10 this season, wasn't the only Bruin welcoming the Beavers to Rejection City. As a team, UCLA (18-7, 9-3 Pac-10) finished with 16 blocked shots, which enabled the Bruins to overcome 26 turnovers and 24 Oregon State offensive rebounds and secure their fifth consecutive victory and ninth in 10 games.
Bruins guard Malcolm Lee followed up a season-high 25-point performance against Oregon on Thursday with 19 points Saturday. Freshman center Joshua Smith added 15 points and three blocks.
But it was Honeycutt who set the tone on an afternoon where Craig Robinson's resilient Oregon State team battled back from an early 24-6 deficit to make it 29-24 at halftime and then mounted another charge late in the game.
"I just had to keep protecting the rim," Honeycutt said.
Honeycutt has been vigilant all season, leading the Pac-10 in blocked shots with 47. While he also was a major contributor to UCLA's turnovers, committing a team-high, or is it low, seven. But he also added five rebounds, nine points, five assists and a steal.
"Honeycutt was just fantastic," UCLA coach Ben Howland said. "That's a lot of blocks."
So many that Howland was willing to forgo the turnovers and problems on the boards to enjoy the rest of his Saturday afternoon.
"It's great to be living in Southern California," he said. "It's Feb. 12, we're coming off our ninth win out of our last 10 and it's 80 degrees outside."
A perfect day for a block party.
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By Blair Angulo
ESPNLA, UCLA Report
Feb 125:08PM PT
We go beyond the arc following UCLA's 69-61 win against Oregon State on Saturday at Pauley Pavilion:
1. IN AND OUT
Coach Ben Howland wanted to give his non-scholarship players a minute of playing time. He really did.
And when Howland emptied his bench -- with UCLA up 16 and less than a minute remaining -- it looked like student-section favorites Blake Arnet, Matt DeMarcus, Alex Schrempf and Tyler Trapani would be the ones dribbling out the clock. Oregon State kept its full-court press, though, blitzing the walk-ons and cutting the deficit to single digits.
Howland just couldn't risk it and brought back his starters 15 seconds after they had received a standing ovation from the Pauley crowd.
"We turned it over twice, immediately," Howland said. "I didn't want to take them out, but I obviously didn't want to lose the game. Those kids come every day and give us a good effort."
Said Tyler Honeycutt: "I was glad that we could get them in. It was the first time all year. I was excited for them, but the next thing you know, coach called us in and it was almost kind of funny. The crowd was laughing because it all happened fast. They weren't really prepared to play and I'm sure they will be next time when they get their chance."
2. BY THE NUMBERS
UCLA continues to whack Oregon State. The Bruins extended their win streak against the Beavers to 13 games, which is the longest active winning streak by a Pac-10 team against another Pac-10 team. Howland is 15-3 all-time against Oregon State and a perfect 8-0 at home.
Howland has taken criticism for his team's inability to put opponents away this season, but he made sure to point out that UCLA has a 17-0 record when holding a lead of at least 10 points. The Bruins led by as many as 18 in the first half but saw it cut to five at the break. They led by 22 midway through the second half before Oregon State chipped its way back.
3. ONE-ON-ONE WITH TYLER HONEYCUTT
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Bruins yo-yo themselves to win over OSU
By Jon Gold
Inside UCLA with Jon Gold
The Los Angeles Daily News
on February 12, 2011 7:45 PM
After UCLA's 10-point win over Oregon on Thursday - a game in which the Bruins went down big only to storm back just as quick - head coach Ben Howland said he wanted one breather this season, a season that has been filled with more yo-yos than a novelty store.
Ten minutes into the Bruins' matchup with Oregon State on Saturday afternoon at Pauley Pavilion it looked like Howland could finally relax during a game.
And then the string dropped once more, Howland started sweating it out once more, and UCLA needed to gather itself once more, before winning its fifth straight with a 69-61 victory at Pauley Pavilion in front of 8,534.
But after a 14-18 record last year, Howland's more than happy to dip down if the Bruins ultimately come back up, and they have, picking up their 15th win out of the last 18 games.
"We're 17-0 when we have a ten-point lead," Howland said. "The bottom line, at the end here, we're trying to win the game."
The Bruins jumped to a scorching start on Saturday, holding Oregon State to 2-of-16 shooting to open the game, and it looked like UCLA was finally turning over a new leaf.
They were choking out the Beavers, overpowering them with a frustrating perimeter defense that forced poor shot selection and drained the shot clock.
A Joshua Smith slam dunk and one on a beautiful Tyler Honeycutt bounce pass staked UCLA the 24-6 lead with just over eight minutes left in the first half.
They turned over a new leaf alright. Then again, what didn't the Bruins turn over?
UCLA let the Beavers climb back with poor decision-making and even worse execution, finishing the first half with eight turnovers in the last eight minutes as Oregon State cut the lead to five at halftime.
"It would be nice if we could keep adding on to the lead," said junior shooting guard Malcolm Lee, who scored a game-high 19 points. "Nobody wants to be scared at the end. We just gotta stay mentally tough, and just keep trying to hold them off. When we play more athletic teams, it's gonna be harder, so we just gotta keep it going."
With Tyler Honeycutt looking like a human fly-swatter, Lee was eventually able to breathe easy.
Honeycutt had eight blocks, the most for the Bruins since Jelani McCoy had 11 in Dec. 1995, to go along with nine points, five rebounds, five assists but seven turnovers. UCLA tied a school-record with 16 blocks for the game, simply denying the Beavers time after time.
But Oregon State killed the Bruins on the offensive glass, grabbing 24 of its 37 total rebounds on the offensive end, and attempted 31 more shots than UCLA.
"They had 24 offensive rebounds; that's an area that we need to work on," Howland said. "We're not going to advance very far unless we do a better job blocking out."
Blocking out, and closing out.
The Bruins rediscovered their momentum early in the second half, turning a 29-25 lead into a 22-point lead with just less than seven minutes left. But Oregon State would not simply fade away, a suffocating full-court press flustering the Bruins into a season-high 26 turnovers.
Even after Howland inserted UCLA's walk-on reserves with a minute left, the Beavers kept up their pressure, forcing two immediate turnovers before Howland beckoned his starters back from their seats.
"I was glad that we could get them in," Honeycutt said. "I was excited for them. It was almost kinda funny. They weren't really prepared, and I'm sure they will be next time."
That is, if there is a next time.
That is, if the yo-yo comes all the way back up again.
Click on boxscore to enlarge (from Yahoo Sports)
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