Hours before Oregon tipped off against No. 2 UCLA on Wednesday, Dillon Brooks was scrolling through his Twitter feed when a post from former Oregon star Aaron Brooks caught his eye.
The tweet featured a photo of McArthur Court from Jan. 7, 2007, the day Aaron Brooks hit a game-winning jumper to topple the No. 2 UCLA Bruins. It gave an upstart Oregon squad its signature win amid one of the greatest seasons in program history and was captioned: “Create a beautiful memory that will last a lifetime!”
Wednesday night, in front of the second-largest crowd in Matthew Knight Arena history, the younger Brooks created his own signature moment, drilling a game-winning 3-pointer to give No. 21 Oregon an 89-87 victory over the top-ranked Bruins.
The circumstances of both the Brooks’ game-winning shots were eerily similar. Just as Aaron Brooks’ winning shot sparked a dominant run by the 2006-07 Ducks, Dillon’s shot could do the same for a talented team that looks like it found just how good it can be on Wednesday.
“I saw that tweet, and I saw where Aaron Brooks hit a great shot,” Dillon Brooks said. “That resonated in my mind. If I had that chance, I wanted to do the same thing.”

Oregon trailed by four with 24 seconds to go after leading by as much as 12 at during the first half. The Ducks were 2-of-14 from 3-point range during the first 19:36 of the second half. Badly needing a bucket, freshman point guard Payton Pritchard drilled a step-back three with 16 seconds left to cut the UCLA lead to 87-86.
The Bruins stayed composed and got the ball to Bryce Alford — an 87-percent free throw shooter — who drew a foul and went to the line for a 1-and-1 opportunity. Alford missed his first shot wide, and Brooks grabbed the rebound and dashed up the court with eight seconds to go. With the clock dwindling and any glimpse of a set play dissolving in front of him, Brooks pulled up from the three point line and drained the biggest shot of his life.
“(Brooks) had the option to go to the basket or shoot it, but he felt like he liked the shot — and he was right,” Oregon head coach Dana Altman said. “Who am I to argue?”
Brooks, after missing the first three games of the year and struggling through many of Oregon’s early contests, delivered a breakout performance and carried the Ducks’ offense for much of the first half. He finished with 23 points on 9-of-20 shooting, nine rebounds and four assists. He played sloppy at times during the second half, and missed four straight free throws at one point as the Bruins stretched their lead. Still, the player who will make or break Oregon’s season knew that if the ball found his hands on the last play, the shot was going up.
“Dillon likes those big moments,” Altman said. “Hit or miss, he’s willing to take the consequences. It’s just nice to see him healthy and enjoying the game.”
Oregon knew it needed to be near-perfect to top a UCLA team that was undefeated entering the night, and the Ducks played as well as they have all season in the first half. Oregon shot 54.3 percent from the field, and 7-of-14 from 3-point range as they beat the Bruins at their own high-tempo transition game in the first half.
The Ducks took their largest lead and scored their 49th point with three minutes left in the half. Oregon limited UCLA star guard Lonzo Ball to three points in his first 18 minutes, but Ball eventually caught fire and scored nine straight points on three 3-pointers in the second half.
Ball, who is a national Player of the Year candidate, finished with 14 points and six assists. He drew constant double teams and found TJ Leaf and Thomas Welsh often for wide-open opportunities. The duo of Bruin big men finished with a combined 33 points on 13-of-19 shooting. Bryce Alford finished with 20 points and shot 6-of-11 from 3-point range.
Pritchard ended with 15 points and nine assists, and Jordan Bell added 13 points and six offensive rebounds.
The Ducks are now 12-2 on the year and will take on another undefeated team, the No. 22 USC Trojans, at Matthew Knight Arena on Friday.
Follow Jarrid Denney on Twitter @jarrid_denney