Bruins use Wooden’s legacy as inspiration in victory over No. 16 BYU

The reminders were everywhere.

They were on the UCLA bench, where John Wooden’s great-grandson sat wearing powder-blue warmups. They were in the black Pyramid of Success patch on every Bruins uniform. They were in the Honda Center seat occupied by Wooden’s daughter.

They were also in the message delivered all week by Coach Ben Howland, who had implored his players to dedicate their preparation and play to the legendary coach who died in June at 99.

“We just knew with him being all over the place that we had to do it for him,” UCLA freshman center Joshua Smith said.

The Bruins responded with their most inspired performance of the season, defeating No. 16 Brigham Young, 86-79, on Saturday in the first Wooden Classic played without Wooden in attendance.

UCLA (6-4) answered every Cougars charge and shrugged off serious foul trouble on three starters while blunting the memory of last year’s 18-point loss to Mississippi State in the event.

“It feels good to just beat a really good team and show that when we’re at our best we can beat anybody,” said Bruins sophomore forward Reeves Nelson, who scored a career-high 23 points on eight-for-15 shooting.

UCLA’s front line of Nelson, Smith and forward Tyler Honeycutt combined for 55 points and 20 rebounds as the Bruins handed BYU (10-1) its first loss and ended a streak of five consecutive defeats against ranked teams dating to the 2008-09 season.

“We didn’t really have an answer for their size,” said Cougars Coach Dave Rose, who called the 6-foot-10, 305-pound Smith as difficult a matchup as he had faced in his six seasons with the program.

Nelson rebuffed the Cougars’ final surge when he took a pass from Honeycutt along the baseline and went in for a monstrous one-handed dunk to give UCLA an 84-77 lead with 1 minute 4 seconds remaining. Honeycutt added a free throw in the final minute for the last of his 17 points.

Three Bruins played long stretches of the second half with four fouls, but none fouled out. Smith picked up his fourth foul with 15:26 to play, Lazeric Jones got his fourth with 12:23 left and Honeycutt recorded his fourth with 10:47 to go.

After BYU trimmed what had been a 13-point deficit to five, Howland re-inserted Smith with 10:47 remaining, surprising even the big man.

Smith finished with 15 points and eight rebounds.

BYU then pulled even closer, making it 61-59, before Smith swung the momentum back UCLA’s way. He tipped in his own miss and then drew the fourth foul on Jimmer Fredette when he stepped in front of the All-American guard and took a charge.

“That was a big play,” said Howland, whose team increased its lead from four to eight points over the next three minutes with Fredette on the bench.

Fredette scored a game-high 25 points but committed seven of his team’s 19 turnovers and struggled to create his own shot.

The Bruins showed resilience in rallying from a 10-point deficit in the first half, forcing 12 BYU turnovers in the first 20 minutes. Then they displayed poise against the Cougars’ zone in the second half by repeatedly working the ball inside.

The effort resulted in UCLA’s first marquee victory, one that could significantly boost its NCAA tournament hopes. Players said it all started Monday when Howland told them they were going to dedicate everything they did during the week to Wooden.

“The big thing with Coach Wooden was,” Smith said, “win or lose, as long as you have played your hardest, he was happy with the result.”

ben.bolch@latimes.com