ANAHEIM, Calif. -- UCLA entered Thursday night's Wooden Classic/Pac-12 Conference game against Arizona with a definite height advantage.
Arizona doesn't have a starter taller than the 6-foot-7 Jesse Perry. The Bruins were without their starting center Joshua Smith because of a concussion suffered during Wednesday's practice.
They were still bigger.
And no one was larger than Travis Wear, who had a career high 20 points in the Bruins' 65-58 win over the Wildcats.
"I was trying to get the ball down low, be as aggressive as possible and look to score. I really think that helped me," Wear said.
His twin brother, David, chipped in as well. Together, the Wear twins had their best outing since putting on a UCLA uniform.
Head coach Ben Howland said they had their best week of practice, and Thursday night it all came together, despite both of them being slowed by foul trouble most of the night -- David fouled out with 5:07 left in the game, while Travis came very close to picking up his fifth foul two minutes later.
The focus in practice was on them being more aggressive and getting to the free throw line more often.
"That was a big emphasis the last couple of days of practice, making sure everything was going toward the hoop and no fadeaways or shying away from contact," said David, who finished with 14 points and five rebounds.
The twins had been the subject of criticism for not producing as much as UCLA fans were hoping after the two former McDonald's All-Americans transferred in from North Carolina. David and Travis entered Thursday night's contest averaging 8.8 and 9.8 points per game, respectively.
Howland has backed them, saying -- despite their age -- he considers them to be like freshmen. Both played sparingly during their one season at Chapel Hill.
"They didn't play that much as freshmen. Dave was hurt half of the year. They're very much -- game experience, playing major minutes -- like freshmen, like normal, even though they're older," said Howland.
Thursday, they're contribution was very much needed in order for the Bruins (8-7, 1-2 Pac-12) to pick up their first conference win.
Lazeric Jones, the team's leading scorer -- who played primarily off the ball on Thursday -- struggled from the field, connecting on just 5 of 16 field goals and was 0 for 5 from three-point range. He finished with 13 points.
Travis was huge in the first half with 12 points on 4 of 5 shooting. He also knocked down all four of his free throws during a stretch in which he scored eight points as part of an 11-2 run to give UCLA a 21-12 lead over the Wildcats. The Bruins never trailed after that.
The Bruins shot 57.1 percent from the field for the game while holding Arizona (10-5, 1-1 Pac-12) to just 36.7 percent in the first half while taking a 37-30 lead into the locker room.
The Wooden Classic, which is normally a non-conference game for the Bruins, was a conference battle this year largely due to the Bruins not having a true home arena. Nevertheless, they relished the opportunity.
"It definitely felt special just seeing the atmosphere, knowing it's the John Wooden Classic and his name is on the court. We definitely wanted to have a good appearance and get the win tonight," David Wear said.
The Bruins will return to Honda Center on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. against Arizona State (5-9, 1-1 Pac-12), who defeated USC 62-53 on Thursday.
Saturday will be the fourth and final "home" game at the Honda Center for the Bruins this season.
