Reeves Nelson's double-double lifts UCLA past Pacific
LOS ANGELES -- Reeves Nelson tied his career-high with 21 points and 14 rebounds, and UCLA overcame a poor shooting second half to defeat Pacific 57-44 in the NIT Season Tip-Off on Tuesday night.
The Bruins (3-0) earned a trip to New York City for next week's semifinals as the winner of the West regional, having beaten Pepperdine a night earlier.
Tyler Honeycutt added 15 points and 15 rebounds for UCLA, which improved to 6-1 over Pacific in the teams' first meeting since 1972.
Sam Willard had 18 points and 14 rebounds for Pacific (2-1), which never got closer than nine points in the second half despite aggressively driving to the basket and stepping up its defense.
The Bruins went about 4 1/2 minutes without scoring a basket to start the second half. The Tigers twice closed within nine on scores by Willard, who scored 10 points in the final 20 minutes.
Game Information
- Referees:
- Mike Littlewood
- Michael Irving
- Bobby McRoy
2022-23 West Coast Conference Standings
| Team | CONF | GB | OVR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gonzaga | 14-2 | - | 31-6 |
| Saint Mary's | 14-2 | - | 27-8 |
| Santa Clara | 11-5 | 3 | 23-10 |
| Loyola Marymount | 9-7 | 5 | 19-12 |
| San Francisco | 7-9 | 7 | 20-14 |
| BYU | 7-9 | 7 | 19-15 |
| Pacific | 7-9 | 7 | 15-18 |
| Portland | 5-11 | 9 | 14-19 |
| San Diego | 4-12 | 10 | 11-20 |
| Pepperdine | 2-14 | 12 | 9-22 |
2022-23 Pac-12 Conference Standings
| Team | CONF | GB | OVR |
|---|---|---|---|
| UCLA | 18-2 | - | 31-6 |
| Arizona | 14-6 | 4 | 28-7 |
| USC | 14-6 | 4 | 22-11 |
| Oregon | 12-8 | 6 | 21-15 |
| Arizona State | 11-9 | 7 | 23-13 |
| Washington State | 11-9 | 7 | 17-17 |
| Utah | 10-10 | 8 | 17-15 |
| Colorado | 8-12 | 10 | 18-17 |
| Washington | 8-12 | 10 | 16-16 |
| Stanford | 7-13 | 11 | 14-19 |
| Oregon State | 5-15 | 13 | 11-21 |
| California | 2-18 | 16 | 3-29 |
Men's College Basketball News