The UCLA Bruins used a 47-25 second-half advantage Sunday to erase a five-point halftime deficit and overwhelm the visiting Oregon Ducks, 70-53.
The Ducks shot 54.2 percent from the field in the first half and built a 28-23 halftime lead but shot 29.6 percent in the second half, allowing the No. 19 Bruins to storm back and claim the 17-point victory and the season sweep against Oregon.
“It ended up being the tale of two halves,” Oregon coach Ernie Kent said in a broadcast interview. “I thought we played fantastic in the first half. But UCLA stepped it up here on Senior’s Day and they had a little bit more energy than we had in the second half.”
The loss eliminates Oregon’s hope of securing the sixth seed for the Pacific-10Conference Tournament, beginning March 8.
At 7-10 in the Pac-10 and 13-16 overall, the Ducks are a lock for the seventh spot and will play on opening day (March 8) against the conference’s 10th-place team. Currently, Oregon State, Arizona State and Washington State are all possible first-round opponents with four wins each.
The Ducks close out the regular season Saturday against Oregon State in Corvallis at 5 p.m.
“I think the important thing for us right now is to take a couple days off as we get ready for another seniors’ last game at a huge Civil War game and obviously getting ready for the conference tournament after that,” Kent said.
The Ducks could not slow conference-leader UCLA (22-6, 12-4 Pac-10) in the second half Sunday in front of a packed Pauley Pavilion crowd that included Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and other members of the Bruins’ 1968 NCAA Championship team.
After a three-pointer by Aaron Brooks, Oregon took the lead at 19-17 with 5:58 left in the first half. The Ducks held it until a three pointer by UCLA freshman Michael Roll gave UCLA a 33-30 lead with 14:36 to play in the second half.
The Ducks cut the lead to one point momentarily before UCLA went on a 13-4 run to extend its lead. Oregon got no closer than nine for the remainder of the game.
The Bruins shot 62.5 percent from the field in the second half after shooting 43.5 percent in the first half. UCLA turned the ball over nine times in the first half and committed only two turnovers in the second half.
Sophomore guard Arron Afflalo scored all 14 of his points in the second half. Freshman Luc Richard Mbah a Moute finished with a double-double by scoring 14 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
Jordan Farmar (11 points) also helped the Bruins shoot 53.2 percent for the game.
Brooks led the Ducks with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting and played his second consecutive turnover-free game Sunday. Brooks finished with 20 points and committed no turnovers Thursday in a win against USC.
“I’m certainly hoping he’s starting to silence a lot of his critics,” Kent said. “He had a phenomenal game. It’s unfortunate the game got away from us because his effort was really, really good. He was definitely the best point guard on the floor with his play.”
Chamberlain Oguchi scored 10 points and was the only other Duck in double figures. Aside from Oguchi and Brooks, Oregon’s three other starters – Malik Hairston, Jordan Kent and Ray Schafer – scored six points each.
The Bruins swept Oregon for the second straight year, and they are in the driver’s seat for the Pac-10 title race with California.
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