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ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Reeves Nelson scored a career-high 23 points and UCLA defeated No. 16 BYU 86-79 in the John R. Wooden Classic doubleheader on Saturday, handing the Cougars their first loss.
The Bruins (6-4) earned their first quality win of the season after road losses to ranked teams Villanova and Kansas. Tyler Honeycutt added 17 points and Joshua Smith had 15 points and eight rebounds despite both being in foul trouble in the team's third straight win.
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Jimmer Fredette led the Cougars (10-1) with 25 points while in foul trouble and Brandon Davies added 18.
UCLA ended a five-game skid against ranked teams with its first win since beating Washington in 2009. The Bruins improved to 10-4 in the doubleheader named for their late coach, who died in June at 99.
The Bruins opened the second half on an 18-11 run that produced their largest lead, 61-48, capped by Honeycutt's 3-pointer.
Shortly before, Smith picked up his fourth foul, allowing the Cougars to take away UCLA's inside game and the Bruins began missing from the perimeter.
The Cougars scored 11 straight points to get to 61-59. UCLA answered with six straight points of its own, with foul-plagued Lazeric Jones and Smith combining for all of them to keep the Bruins ahead 67-59. Fredette sat down with his fourth foul after missing two straight baskets.
The teams traded baskets down the stretch, with Davies scoring eight straight points for the Cougars. Smith went back to work inside, alternately scoring or drawing a foul.
The Cougars got no closer than five on Fredette's final basket with 2 minutes left.
BYU raced out to a 16-6 lead to start the game, with Fredette scoring eight points. The Bruins clamped down on him while using a 23-5 run to take a 29-21 lead. Nelson and Honeycutt had six points each in the spurt while BYU sputtered on turnovers.
The Cougers ran off six straight points to close within two before UCLA closed the half on a 14-10 run, including consecutive 3-pointers by Jones and Jerime Anderson, to lead 43-37. Fredette scored BYU's final six points of the half.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
