Sitting in the media break room at halftime of the Pac-12 Tournament semifinal between No.4-seeded Oregon and No. 1 UCLA, an eerily familiar feeling crept in. It was reminiscent of what settled over Matthew Knight Arena at halftime when these two teams last met.
On Feb. 11, Oregon led by two at that point. On Friday, the margin was flipped in UCLA’s favor.
“At halftime, we were emphasizing competing and being tough,” Oregon forward Rivaldo Soares said. “In previous games, in the second half, our energy levels have gone down.”
Just two points separated Oregon (19-14, 12-8) and the No. 2 team in the country with 20 minutes to go. Not a bad place to be for the Ducks in a must-win spot, right?
Wrong.
Slow-plodding, grind-it-out games — that’s just how UCLA (29-4, 18-2) likes it. Then they adjust. They spread out the opponent’s defense and let one of their stars go to work. On Feb. 11, Jaime Jaquez’s 18-point second half was the difference. Thursday night, guard Amari Bailey’s career-high 26 helped UCLA beat Colorado. Tonight, Tyger Campbell assumed that role.
Behind Campbell’s career-high 28 points, the Bruins ran away with the game in the second half and beat Oregon 75-56. The loss means the Ducks missed the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row.
From what they showed in the second half, was that outcome really ever in question?
See, that’s what’s plagued the Ducks all season. It’s unpredictable which version will show up on any given night, or any given half in Friday’s case.
“In the first half, [the Ducks’] offensive rebounding kept them in it,” UCLA head coach Mick Cronin said.
It was a similar formula to the one that helped Oregon build a 19-point lead in the first half against Washington State, that may have suggested center N’Faly Dante had made his mark. Instead, he had just one point at halftime. All four of his attempts had fallen short.
“We weren’t able to go to Dante as much as we wanted,” head coach Dana Altman said. “He was bothered a little bit by that ankle.”
Guard Will Richardson and center Kel’el Ware picked up the slack. Both seemed to play with newfound confidence. Richardson hit his first three shots and led the team with seven points at the break. Ware stepped up when Dante entered foul trouble and had six points.
Not only did their approach on offense mimic that of last night, but their defensive scheme, too.
“The way they were playing the pick and roll, we thought Tyger could have a big night,” Cronin said.
It was a man-to-man with the bigs in drop coverage that didn’t emphasize fighting through ball screens. On Thursday, it gave the Cougars a window to comeback, and on Friday, presented an opportunity for a surgical guard like Campbell to get to his spots.
“Our bigs were getting me open on our ball screens,” Campbell said. “Then we were able to get the switch and I got the shots I wanted.”
At halftime, he was just 3-of-9, but each attempt was well-advised. When Oregon presented the same look in the second half, Campbell took advantage.
“Tyger got it going and we did a poor job of adjusting on him,” Altman said.
Poor job? Oregon barely even tried.
After going down 44-36 to open the second half, the Ducks briefly switched to a 1-3-1 which helped get multiple stops and cut it to three, with 14 minutes remaining. At that juncture, Cronin made a platoon swap.
UCLA’s Jaquez, Bailey, David Singleton and Mac Etienne made way for a unit consisting of just one starter: Campbell.
“Really, [he] was the only guy on the floor that had experience, that was going to look for his shot,” Altman said. “We just didn’t do a good job of getting after him.”
They switched back to man. No matter who it was in Campbell’s face he created space. Pull up from the left elbow. Off glass from the free-throw line. Behind the back counter from the right wing. Off-the dribble three from the top, as Keeshawn Barthelemy ducked the screen. Isolation mid-range bucket.
The Bruins had broken the game open and were in complete control.
“They’re obviously the better team,” Altman said “They’ve proven that three times. They’ve got two great individuals. Especially Tyger today.”
Altman had a point.
Maybe no modification would have stopped Campbell from reaching his career high? Maybe no drill in practice this season could have helped improve what was one of the worst three-point shooting teams Altman’s coached at Oregon, in his 13 years? (One that shot just 18% from deep, on Friday.)
The nostalgic monologue he provided to cap off the press conference suggested that much.
“You see guys make the jump all the time,” Altman said. “Chris Duarte went from 34% to 42, but he was in the gym all the time. Dillon Brooks wasn’t a good shooter when he first came, but he was in the gym all the time. Payton Pritchard improved his numbers every year because he was in the gym all the time. Guys think that ‘I can go shoot around for half an hour, or go shoot around with my girlfriend for half an hour and I’ll be a better shooter.’ That’s not the way it works.”
Work ethic and raw talent aside, it’s tough to point to any single moment or reason why Altman’s impression didn’t get across to this team like it has with past iterations. Point is, it didn’t.
It was a team fractured by an injury-bug that never fully mended; a group of individuals that never truly gelled as one.
While a few of its members are set to return — guard Jermaine Couisnard announced his decision, on Thursday and Nate Bittle on Friday; Barthelemy and Ware might not be far behind — something has to change for Oregon to avoid a third straight year without an NCAA Tournament berth.
One thing’s for certain, it won’t be Altman’s perspective of how success is earned.
