UCLA hangs on for 74-73 victory against UC Irvine

Malcolm Lee didn’t want to think about what might have happened had UC Irvine executed a little more crisply on its final possession.

“We probably would have had practice on Christmas Day,” the UCLA guard said.

The Bruins headed home for the holidays as scheduled, but they will have plenty to ponder after nearly squandering a five-point lead in the final minute of a 74-73 victory over the Anteaters on Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion.

UCLA missed six of eight free throws in the final 51 seconds, opening the door for UC Irvine to rally from a 72-67 deficit.

The Anteaters had a chance to win after Tyler Lamb missed two free throws with six seconds left and the Bruins leading by a point, but Chris McNealy could not get a shot off before the buzzer.

“It would have been an absolutely horrible Christmas around the Howland household had we lost this game,” UCLA Coach Ben Howland said.

Lee and Lazeric Jones scored 20 points apiece for the Bruins (8-4), who held on with leading scorer Tyler Honeycutt sidelined by a sprained right shoulder.

“If those guys step up and make their foul shots down the stretch,” Howland said, “we’re not coming down to the last second with them having the ball.”

UCLA’s late problems at the line began when guard Jerime Anderson missed twice before Jones fouled Patrick Rembert on a spinning layup. Rembert made his free throw to complete the three-point play and pull the Anteaters (6-6) to within 72-70. UC Irvine then nearly forced a turnover in the backcourt before fouling Jones, who missed the first free throw and made the second, extending the Bruins’ lead to three points.

UCLA appeared to be in good shape when Eric Wise missed a driving layup and Reeves Nelson got the rebound. The Anteaters fouled Nelson and he made one of two free throws with 14 seconds left to make it 74-70.

But Darren Moore banked in a three-pointer with seven seconds left and UC Irvine fouled Lamb. The freshman guard missed both of his free throws with six seconds to play.

Moore got the rebound and fed Rembert, whose pass inside to McNealy was too late for any heroics. The Bruins walked off the court with their fifth consecutive victory, albeit their shakiest triumph of the season.

UCLA seemed out of sorts from the opening tip, with Nelson starting the game on the bench because, Howland said, he was 10 minutes late to a shootaround after getting caught in traffic.

Nelson had eight points and seven rebounds but wasn’t as aggressive as usual, taking only five shots.

The Bruins had hoped to clean up some things before opening Pacific 10 Conference play Wednesday against Washington State, but they committed 17 turnovers and were outscored in the paint, 28-26.

Wise had 16 points and 10 rebounds and Pavol Losonsky had 15 points for the Anteaters, who shot 56.3% in the second half while rallying from a 14-point deficit.

“A lot of times they played harder than we did,” said UCLA freshman center Joshua Smith, who had 14 points. “They went for the loose balls, they executed, they were getting and-ones. We were fortunate to get a win.”

The program distributed at the game featured UCLA’s freshman class on the cover, including a smiling Matt Carlino standing next to Howland. The shooting guard could have given the Bruins some much-needed depth against UC Irvine had he not left the team two weeks ago. He later announced that he was transferring to Brigham Young.

Howland had said Carlino’s departure would hurt his thin team if the Bruins suffered an injury, and four players logged at least 26 minutes against the Anteaters. But the coach said the Bruins couldn’t simply shrug off the sloppy showing because they were short-handed without Honeycutt and Carlino.

“Other guys have to step up,” Howland said.

ben.bolch@latimes.com