ANAHEIM “”mdash; A year after playing one of its worst games in front of John Wooden, UCLA played perhaps its most complete game of the season with the coach in their memories.
The Bruins knocked off No. 16 BYU 86-79 on Saturday, handing the Cougars their first loss of the season at the John Wooden Classic.
The Bruins were patient and persistent, battling back from an early 10 point deficit to lead most of the game by a healthy margin.
Sophomore forward Reeves Nelson led the way with a career high 23 points, but the Bruins had four players in double figures by the end of the game.
With only nine players on scholarship, coach Ben Howland was constantly rotating men in and out because of foul trouble for both freshman Josh Smith and sophomore Tyler Honeycutt. The former performed well after picking up his fourth foul early in the second half, taking a momentum-shifting charge and scoring double digits in the second half.
The victory gives UCLA its first win over a ranked team this season, with only two non-conference games remaining before Pac-10 play begins on Dec. 29.