It was a tale of two halves for UCLA.
Behind 21 points apiece from Reeves Nelson and Malcolm Lee, UCLA came from behind Wednesday night to defeat visiting Washington State 80-71 in its Pac-10 opener at Pauley Pavillion.
Nelson, along with sophomore forward Tyler Honeycutt, was instrumental in the team’s second-half comeback, scoring 13 points in the final twenty minutes. Honeycutt scored 12 points in the second half as well.
Collectively, the Bruins amassed a total of 51 points in the second half after trailing 37-29 at intermission.
Despite an injured shoulder forcing to him to miss the team’s last game against UC Irvine, Honeycutt, the team’s leading scorer, helped ignite the team’s second-half surge. A 20-6 run early in the half, brought the Bruins within striking distant after trailing for the majority of the game early on. During the run, Honeycutt scored eight of the Bruins’ 20 points, including two 3-pointers.
Two players finished with double-doubles Wednesday. Nelson finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Point guard Lazeric Jones also notched 10 points, along with 11 assists.
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