Caught flat-footed in the second half against USC on Friday, it was Oregon that made nearly all the right moves in the second half Sunday against UCLA at McArthur Court.
Nearly.
No. 12 UCLA (12-2, 2-0 Pacific-10 Conference) looked every bit the team that has been to three straight Final Fours in the 83-74 win, especially during the final six minutes of the second half. During that stretch, UCLA opened up a 8-0 run that turned away a four-point Oregon deficit into a 12-point hole that the Ducks, no matter how much momentum they had, would never recover from.
UCLA has won eight straight games.
Oregon starts the season with two conference losses going into its road trip to Arizona this weekend, although its effort Sunday looked nothing like its 21-point loss to USC two days earlier.
Why Oregon lost
| – | Despite improved defense in the second half, UCLA still shot 52 percent from the field and made 16-17 from the free throw line. |
| – | While Oregon shot 8-of-9 free throws in the second half, its 10-of-16 shooting in the first half kept the Ducks from getting any closer than 11 points at halftime. |
| – | While both teams were close in assists, turnovers and steals, UCLA’s ball handler, Darren Collison, had nine assists to one turnover, compared to Tajuan Porter’s two assists and three turnovers and Garrett Sim’s one assist and three turnovers. Oregon’s power forward, Joevan Catron, led the Ducks with seven assists, but he had six turnovers. |
Where Oregon (6-8, 0-2) dropped its defensive intensity in the second half against the athletic Trojans, the Ducks ramped up their energy in the second half after being down 40-29 at the half. Stymied by the Bruins’ guard pressure that left them unable to reach the paint in the first half, the Ducks spread UCLA out and attacked often in the second, a strategy that brought Oregon within sight of the lead by shooting 50 percent.
“You knew they were going to make a run,” UCLA coach Ben Howland said.
UCLA was ready just the same.
Although the Ducks fouled out Bruin post Alfred Aboya and got Josh Shipp to his fourth foul with seven minutes left, it was the two quick fouls on their own post Michael Dunigan in the first minute of the second half that left UO without its inside presence.
“I think we grew today as a team,” Porter said. “We’re right there with those teams.”
Bruin point guard Darren Collison scored 11 of his team-high 22 points in the last 4:10 of the game, icing Oregon with seven free throws during that stretch. He added nine assists and committed only one turnover in 38 minutes.
Although Oregon never led, it was able to cut the lead to within four points at several points in the second half, as early as a 14:47 left on a Tajuan Porter layup to make it 46-43, and as late as 6:07 remaining at 64-60 with Porter’s three-pointer at the top of the arc.
The Bruins’ hot shooting, present from the start, never left. After shooting 8-of-10 from three in the first half, UCLA got two big three-pointers from Josh Shipp on consecutive possessions with nine minutes left to push the lead to 61-54. All five of Shipp’s field goals were three-pointers, and he finished with 17 points.
“He is that type of kid,” Howland said of Shipp. “He feeds off that energy to quiet a crowd.”
Porter led all scorers with 24 points, one of three Ducks in double figures with Joevan Catron and LeKendric Longmire.
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