Following Thursday’s three-point victory over USC, Oregon coach Dana Altman said he expected a much more physical test from the Bruins of UCLA later in the week. And on Saturday afternoon the Ducks got just that and more from the Los Angeles squad.
The Ducks all but shot their way out of the game in the opening half by making just 7-of-31 field goals (22.6 percent) to trail by 13 at intermission, but eventually found a rhythm in the second half en route to their fourth straight Pac-12 victory.
It was Oregon 75, UCLA 68, as the Ducks made all 10 of their free throws in the final minute to secure a dramatic comeback victory in front of a season-high crowd of 10,830 at Matthew Knight Arena.
“It gives us a different kind of experience to battle through,” junior forward E.J. Singler said. “I thought the team really showed a lot of toughness and a lot of heart down the stretch for fighting back and getting back into the game.
“Finishing it is the big part. Anyone can come back from a deficit, but really coming back and winning it is a big step.”
Singler played a key role in helping Oregon to its 15^th victory in 20 outings this season. He recorded 16 of his career-high 26 points at the free-throw line — with only one miss to his credit — including 8-of-8 over the last 60 seconds.
As a team, Oregon made seven more free throws (28-of-32) than UCLA attempted (10-of-21), while playing to a tie on the boards (37) after trailing by 10 in that category at the half.
“I know if I go up to the foul line it’s just a lot of repetition,” Singler said. “I go up knowing that I’m gonna make it. I got in a good groove tonight and it felt good.”
Senior guard Garrett Sim, who led Oregon with 20 points on 4-of-5 three-point shooting in the win over USC, provided the Ducks with they exact spark they needed to start the second half.
Trailing by 11, Sim knocked down a three in front of the Oregon bench and was fouled on the way down, then converted the four-point play to cut the lead to seven. The Portland native found the bottom of the net from deep again less than a minute later, and all of the sudden it became a two possession game.
Shooting 47.6 percent from beyond the three-point line this season, Sim said he had no reservations about taking a few extra shots from long range.
“I wasn’t really huntin’ ‘em, but after that and-one I knew if I got the next open look I was definitely gonna take it,” said Sim, who finished with 16 points on 3-of-7 three-pointers. “Any time I get an open three, I’m gonna shoot it with confidence and that’s what I was doing.”
Altman said Sim’s sharp shooting was just what Oregon needed to overcome the sluggish start offensively, which the Ducks promptly turned into a 15-2 run to open the second half.
“We just needed to get something to get going,” Altman said. “Get the crowd going and get everybody into the game and we needed to get our team in the game.
“It was a big shot and we needed it at that point and it really got the crowd energized and our players believing that we were coming back and were gonna get it done.”