Bruins turn it on to rout Humboldt

UCLA Coach Ben Howland called a timeout with 11:54 left in the second half of Thursday’s exhibition between the Bruins and NCAA Division II opponent Humboldt State at Pauley Pavilion.

Humboldt’s Kevin Johnson had just made an unguarded jump shot to pull the Lumberjacks within 12 points of the Bruins. Howland gestured angrily during the timeout and No. 6-ranked UCLA scored eight of the next nine points in the span of a minute, and was well on its way to an 87-61 victory.

It was UCLA’s second, and final, exhibition before the regular season begins Wednesday against Brigham Young. Freshman forward James Keefe sat out because of a strained neck, junior center Lorenzo Mata was still sidelined because of a surgically repaired knee, and the Bruins gave up too many easy inside baskets to Humboldt State.

But the scoring of forward Josh Shipp (21 points) and guard Arron Afflalo (18) carried the Bruins. Humboldt State is ranked No. 6 in Division II by Street and Smith’s.

“I thought we played better than a week ago,” Howland said, referring to UCLA’s 73-43 win over Cal Poly Pomona. “We got good contributions off the bench.”

Howland cited the play of freshman point guard Russell Westbrook, who had 11 points and two assists in a backup role.

“I was pleased with him,” Howland said. “He did a great job.”

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The regular season hasn’t started and the EA Sports Maui Invitational basketball tournament is 10 days away, but tournament chairman Dave Gavitt was asked Thursday about a possible second-round matchup between UCLA and Kentucky.

The Bruins will play host Chaminade, a Division II team, in the first round, and No. 22 Kentucky will play DePaul.

“ESPN would be most excited if it happens,” Gavitt said. “No disrespect to Chaminade, but I think Kentucky will really have its hands full with DePaul, that’s going to be a very, very competitive game.”

There are four nationally ranked teams in the field of eight including No. 6 UCLA. Memphis, ranked No. 14, will open against Oklahoma, and No. 23 Georgia Tech plays Purdue. If UCLA and Kentucky win the openers, the two teams with a combined 18 national championships (UCLA has 11) would play on Nov. 21.

diane.pucin@latimes.com