UCLA basketball: Bruins lead Oregon State, 37-22, at halftime

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Now that was ugly.

Oregon State put on a display in the first half against UCLA that hardly seemed worthy of major Division I basketball Thursday night at Gill Coliseum, with airballs galore and passes continually flying out of bounds.

The Beavers made only seven baskets, were outrebounded by 12 and are fortunate to be trailing only 37-22 at halftime after spotting the Bruins the game’s first nine points.

Oregon State shot 23.3% and might be losing by 30 had UCLA not committed 12 turnovers. Guard Lazeric Jones, who had missed all 10 of his shots in his last two games, has a team-high nine points and guard Malcolm Lee has seven points for the Bruins, who shot 65.2%.

UCLA forward Brendan Lane replaced center Joshua Smith in the starting lineup on the same day Smith was reprimanded by the Pacific 10 Conference for criticizing officials after the Bruins’ loss to USC on Sunday. Smith entered the game after 4 minutes 25 seconds, finishing the first half with four points and five rebounds in 10 minutes of play.

Roberto Nelson has a team-high six points for Oregon State, whose starters made a combined five of 21 shots in the first half.

--Ben Bolch, reporting from Corvallis, Ore.