Oregon: 91

No. 13 UCLA: 62
Next: Oregon vs. USC, 3 p.m. Saturday at Mac Court, Fox Sports Network

There have been some incredible atmospheres at McArthur Court since Ernie Kent took over as head coach in 1997.
But Thursday night, with a sold out crowd of 9,087 sounding like a few thousand more, the Oregon Ducks thumped No. 13 UCLA, 91-62, in a game that Kent believes jumps right to the top of the list.
“The crowd was the best crowd it’s been all year long, and maybe the best one in the last five years,” Kent said. “I felt the intensity in that building from the moment we walked out there. It was just an unbelievable environment.”
Kent treated those students standing in line early to 200 pizzas as his way of thanking them for their support.
“We want to do that again Saturday,” Kent said.
He wouldn’t mind seeing his team play the same way Saturday, either.
Oregon (16-5, 8-2) could do no wrong against UCLA and proved itself worthy of its first-place status. Some began doubting the Ducks because of their loss at Washington, which pushed them out of the polls this week.
But Oregon will surely jump right back in after Thursday’s resounding victory, which kept the Ducks tied for the league lead with the Trojans, who come to town Saturday.
The 29-point win was Oregon’s largest ever over the Bruins and the most since Oregon beat UCLA, 56-30, in 1936. It also delivered the Bruins (14-6, 6-4) their most lopsided defeat of the season while the Ducks improved to 12-0 at home.
“I thought it’d be a closer game than that,” point guard Luke Ridnour said.
Once again, one of the keys for the Ducks was balance, as all five starters scored in double figures. Senior guard Freddie Jones put on a highlight worthy performance in front of a national television audience, scoring a game-high 26 points. Sure enough, a few of his spectacular dunks were featured on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” Thursday night, including his one-handed facial over Bruin freshman Andre Patterson with 4:14 left in the first half that put Oregon up 41-20.
Senior Chris Christoffersen recorded a career-high 15 rebounds, along with 14 points, for his second double-double of the season, and Ridnour scored 14 as well. Luke Jackson and Robert Johnson each contributed 11.
“Tonight, they were successful and we weren’t able to even be competitive,” UCLA head coach Steve Lavin said.
Perhaps even more impressive, though, was the play of the Oregon defense. On the road at the two Washington schools, the Ducks gave up a combined 183 points and let one guy score over 30 points each game.
Against UCLA, the Ducks held Jason Kapono, who averages 18.4, to four points and Matt Barnes, who averages 14.8, to just two points.
“That might be the only game all year where they struggle like that,” Jones said. “We wanted to slow them down and make everybody else beat us.”
Nobody on the Bruins’ roster could, especially after the hole Oregon dug for them. From the jump ball, which the Ducks won, Oregon had more energy than its opponent. The Ducks took leads of 10-2, 25-10, 34-16 and 46-22 before finally taking the 47-28 advantage into halftime.
Lavin couldn’t find the right motivation for his Bruins during the break as the Ducks, behind the roar of their faithful crowd, kept building their lead in the second half.
In one fast-paced three-minute stretch, Jackson hit a three-pointer, Jones connected a reverse lay-in followed by a trey, Ridnour hit a running jumper, Jackson rolled one in and Anthony Lever banged home a three — with no answer from the Bruins.
The 15-0 run gave the Ducks their largest lead of the game, 69-34, with 13:36 left, that all but sealed the deal.
In the closing minutes, Kent walked down his bench and knocked fists with each of his players. While he did, he flashed his index finger with his free hand and mouthed the words, “One more.”
That “one more” is a date with the co-leading USC Trojans at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Pit, which will no doubt again be rocking in hopes that the Ducks can keep on rolling.
“This is for all the marbles,” Jones said.