UCLA basketball: Will eight be enough against Pacific?

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The loss of UCLA shooting guards Malcolm Lee and Matt Carlino to injuries potentially leaves the Bruins with only eight available scholarship players for their second-round game in the NIT Season Tip-Off on Tuesday night at Pauley Pavilion against Pacific.

Only one of the eight -- freshman Tyler Lamb -- is a shooting guard. And he made only one of 10 shots Monday during UCLA’s 79-69 victory over Pepperdine, missing all four of his three-point attempts.

‘He got a lot of wide-open looks that he’ll normally knock down,’ Bruins sophomore forward Tyler Honeycutt said of Lamb, ‘so I think [Tuesday] he’ll knock a couple of more down.’

Lee sprained his left ankle less than six minutes into the game against the Waves, limping off the court. Though X-rays were negative, Coach Ben Howland said Lee couldn’t walk on the ankle and was definitely out for the game against Pacific.

Carlino, who suffered a concussion when he fell during practice on Nov. 8, has resumed shooting, but Howland said his status was uncertain.

‘He hasn’t played in a week,’ Howland said, ‘so it would be hard to throw him into a game when he hasn’t even practiced since he hurt his head.’

Howland was pleased with how his young and shorthanded team responded to an eight-point deficit late in the first half against the Waves, rattling off a 26-2 run to take control.

‘It’s a very young team, and we’re going to have periods like we had in the first half,’ Howland said. ‘I was just happy how we rebounded from that.’

-- Ben Bolch