Freshman Joshua Smith scored a career-high 19 points, as UCLA welcomed back former coach Steve Lavin by beating his new team, St. John’s, 66-59 in a mid-morning start at Pauley Pavilion Saturday.

Reeves Nelson added 12 points, 17 rebounds and hit a dagger 3-pointer for the Bruins (16-7), who used their inside dominance to gain a 27-5 edge from the charity stripe in a game that had NCAA Tournament ramifications for both teams.

Dwight Hardy was the offense for St. John’s (13-9), which had won the last six games of the series, including three straight at Pauley. The senior guard scored 32 points on 13-of-24 shooting, but the rest of his teammates shot 12 of 39.

UCLA got six points from Malcolm Lee and four from Tyler Honeycutt during a 10-2 run early in the second half, after St. John’s had pulled within two. St. John’s got as close as three late due to turnovers and six consecutive missed free throws by UCLA. But Nelson hit a left-corner 3-pointer as the shot clock wound down with 32 seconds left to provide some cushion.

Lavin, in his first year with the Red Storm, served as an assistant when Jim Harrick led the Bruins to the national title in 1995. He coached the Bruins to six NCAA Tournament bids in seven years before being fired after the 2002-03 season.