Pow! Bruins’ dynamic duo earns them trip to Gotham

Eight was more than enough.

Actually, there were times when it seemed just two could get the job done for UCLA on Tuesday night at Pauley Pavilion.

Playing with only eight available scholarship players, the injury-depleted Bruins let sophomores Reeves Nelson and Tyler Honeycutt carry them to a 57-44 victory over Pacific in the second round of the NIT Season Tip-Off.

Nelson provided the interior brawn and Honeycutt the outside touch, ensuring that UCLA won’t be home for the holidays next week.

Not that the Bruins are complaining.

UCLA (3-0) will play Villanova or Boston University on Nov. 24 in Madison Square Garden in a NIT semifinal.

Nelson put the Bruins in a New York state of mind with a career-high-tying 21 points and 14 rebounds. He had 17 points in the first 20 minutes, scoring in almost every conceivable fashion, before wearing down in the second half of a game in which he logged 37 minutes.

“We obviously lost some gas,” UCLA Coach Ben Howland said, “and it’s because of our short numbers.”

Honeycutt finished with 15 points and 15 rebounds and continual nudges of his teammates in the timeout huddles.

“I kept telling them, ‘I’m trying to go to New York,’ ” said Honeycutt, who played 37 minutes on the second night of back-to-back games. “ ‘I don’t know about you guys.’ ”

The Bruins’ 16-point halftime cushion came in handy during a ragged second half in which they scrounged up only 17 points and watched their advantage dwindle to nine with 5 1/2 minutes left.

That’s when sophomore forward Brendan Lane made a pair of free throws and grabbed a rebound to start a possession that ended in a driving layup by Lazeric Jones, pretty much sealing the outcome.

UCLA held Pacific (2-1) to 25% shooting, including only 13% from three-point range.

The Bruins played with only one shooting guard after injuries sidelined Malcolm Lee and Matt Carlino. Lee sprained his left ankle early in UCLA’s victory over Pepperdine on Monday, and Carlino has missed the Bruins’ first three games after sustaining a concussion in practice nine days ago.

Howland said Lee’s status remained uncertain for his team’s next game.

Freshman guard Tyler Lamb, making his first career start because of the injuries, converted the first shot he took on a stutter-step layup.

Nelson, who logged his second consecutive double-double, made 10 of 16 shots and is shooting an incredible 75% this season.

Howland yanked freshman center Joshua Smith a little more than two minutes into the game after Smith missed a shot from point-blank range and immediately committed a needless foul under the basket.

The Bruins also repeatedly failed to block out Pacific forward Sam Willard, who wiped out part of an early seven-point deficit on back-to-back baskets. Willard finished with 18 points and 14 rebounds.

Howland had said Monday the Bruins were taken out of their rhythm against Pepperdine by playing the second game of a doubleheader, which prevented them from utilizing their normal warmup routine.

It was the same setup Tuesday, UCLA’s game not starting until 8:39 p.m. But late night with the Bruins ended up working out as well as they could have hoped.

ben.bolch@latimes.com