Perhaps it was a response to an emotional halftime speech from coach Dana Altman. Or maybe the desire to please a season-high crowd of 10,830. Or the very real fear of being held under 45 points, the total scored by Oregon’s Rose Bowl team that was honored at halftime. @@http://www.pac-12.org/portals/7/images/MBasketball/2011-12-stats/HTML/ORE.HTM@@ @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=3383&SPID=233&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205355423@@
Whatever the motivation, Oregon (15-5, 6-2 Pac-12) overcame a subpar first half to defeat UCLA 75-68 Saturday afternoon at Matthew Knight Arena. The Ducks went on a 15-2 run to open the second half and played well down the stretch to ice the victory. @@http://pac-12.org/SPORTS/BasketballM/Standings.aspx@@ @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205366100@@
“It was a tale of two halves,” Altman said. “They were the aggressor and did all the tough things in the first half, outrebounding us by 10. In the second half we turned it around on them and outrebounded them by 10 and I thought we did the aggressive things.”
Oregon’s second-half spurt began with a pair of Tony Woods free throws to cut UCLA’s (10-9, 3-4 Pac-12) lead to 37-26. Then senior guard Garrett Sim stole the spotlight.
Sim converted a four-point play from the left wing to pull Oregon to within seven, then followed up a defensive stop with another three-pointer to cut the lead to 37-33.
“Those weren’t easy shots,” junior forward E.J. Singler said. “Those were great shots.”
Although UCLA maintained a slim lead until the 7:49 mark, Sim’s shots got the crowd back into the game and took back momentum from the Bruins.
“We just needed to get something to get going,” Altman said. “Get the crowd going, get everybody into the game. We needed to get our team into the game.”
The Ducks made their final charge with less than 10 minutes left. Trailing 50-42, Oregon got consecutive three-pointers from senior guard Devoe Joseph and Sim, one free throw apiece from Singler and senior forward Tyrone Nared and a driving layup from Singler to take 52-50 lead, Oregon’s first of the game.
The Ducks would never again trail.
David Wear scored on a putback for UCLA on the ensuing possession to tie the game at 52, but guard Johnathan Loyd nailed a three for Oregon to put the Ducks up 55-52, and Oregon hit 14 of 15 free throws in the game’s final 5:14 to ice the victory. @@http://www.uclabruins.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/ucla-m-baskbl-mtt.html@@
“The first half we couldn’t really get in rhythm, but we definitely got in rhythm in the second half,” Sim said. “We were making plays for each other and that’s what changed it up.”
But it wasn’t just the Ducks’ consistent free throw shooting and precision three-point shooting (Oregon shot 56 percent from beyond the arc in the second half) that led the comeback; Oregon’s stingy defense made an equally important contribution to the win. The Ducks relied on an aggressive full-court press to disrupt UCLA’s offensive flow and force the Bruins into committing turnovers.
“Our press really gave us a lot of energy,” Singler said. “I thought defensively we really stepped it up and really altered a lot of shots.”
Oregon limited UCLA to 36 percent shooting in the second half, and did an even better job controlling the glass; the Ducks had a plus-ten advantage in rebounding in the second period.
“It’s just more of a toughness thing which has to do with rebounding,” Sim said. “Coach wanted us to play tougher in the second half, and that includes going to the boards. We did a great job.”
Oregon’s performance in the first half was the opposite of “great”. UCLA began the game on a 13-4 run and used a 15-4 spurt to gain a 35-20 lead heading into the intermission. The Ducks shot 23 percent from the floor and were outrebounded 26-16.
“That first half,” Altman said, “we set basketball back about 10 years.”
Oregon will return to action at 3:30 p.m. next Sunday when it hosts Oregon State. @@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=235&SPSID=4294@@