Texas surges in second half, beats UCLA

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UCLA, which led by as many as 11 points in the first half, fell behind for the first time with 14 minutes 38 seconds left in the second half and lost to Texas, 69-59, on Saturday at the Sports Arena.

The Bruins (2-5) had once led 30-19 over the Longhorns (5-2) and were still ahead by six at halftime though Texas scored five points in the final minute of the half.

Texas seemed to gain momentum after the lights over the court went out for more than 11 minutes in the first half.

The Longhorns’ leading scorer, J’Covan Brown, hit a three-pointer to put Texas ahead 63-53 with less than four minutes to go.

As UCLA’s lead dwindled in the second half, a group of fans started chanting the name of Reeves Nelson, who has been spending large amounts of time on the bench since being suspended for insubordinate behavior last month. Nelson played only 12 minutes and was scoreless in the loss.

Lazeric Jones led UCLA with 21 points and Brown had 22 for Texas.

The Bruins missed 10 of 20 free throws in the 10-point loss.

-- Diane Pucin