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LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Luc Richard Mbah a Moute scored a career-high 24 points and keyed a second-half comeback, leading No. 6 UCLA over BYU 82-69 Wednesday night in the season opener for both teams.
Point guard Darren Collison had career highs with 16 points and 10 assists in his debut as successor to Jordan Farmar, who left early for the NBA draft and now plays downtown for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Farmar was in the crowd, along with 96-year-old John Wooden, who coached the Bruins to 10 NCAA championships.
Josh Shipp added 13 points in his return after missing all but four games last season while recovering from hip surgery.
Keena Young was the only player in double figures with 16 points for BYU, which hit 10 3-pointers but committed 23 turnovers.
The Bruins took an early lead in their first game since losing to Florida in the national championship game seven months ago, then trailed most of the first half, buried by an avalanche of 3-pointers from the Cougars.
Mbah a Moute, last season's Pac-10 freshman of the year, got UCLA going to start the second half. The Bruins ran off 10 consecutive points, including five by Mbah a Moute and a 3-pointer by Collison, and regained a 46-41 lead.
The Cougars got within two on consecutive 3-pointers by Sam Burgess and Lee Cummard.
The Bruins staved off the threat and stretched their lead to nine points, helped by Mbah a Moute's six points and a 3-pointer by Michael Roll.
BYU again got to 64-62 on a basket by Jimmy Balderson before Alfred Aboya scored consecutive baskets that extended UCLA's lead to 68-62.
Collison got the crowd on its feet with two minutes left by grabbing a defensive rebound and completing a fastbreak dunk for a 73-62 lead.
As good as the Cougars' shooting was most of the game, they were limited to three field goals in the final 6:45. Cummard committed an intentional foul on Shipp, who made both as UCLA led 75-63 with 1½ minutes to go.
The Cougars hit eight 3-pointers in the first half, when their biggest lead was 29-20. The Bruins then buckled down and outscored BYU 16-10 mostly on inside baskets to close the half trailing 39-36.
Mike Rose had three of BYU's 3-pointers, including two in a row that gave the Cougars their nine-point lead. Burgess got the long-range assault started with two straight before Austin Ainge sandwiched a pair around one by Rose.
