The No. 12 Oregon Ducks (9-1, 1-1 Big Ten) won all of their first nine games to begin the season, which was fueled by the team’s ability to fight back while down late in games. The Ducks’ second Big Ten matchup against the UCLA Bruins (8-1, 1-0 Big Ten) ended much differently. 

Even after a tremendous come from behind effort, and a would-be game winner from Jackson Shelstad, the Ducks surrendered a game-winning three by UCLA’s Dylan Andrews on the final shot of the game. Oregon dropped the first game of this young season 73-71 against a squad that will end up ranked in the next AP poll. 

“We should never let it get to that. We had so many possessions that, if we would’ve changed them during the game, we wouldn’t have been in that position. Those shots are always big, but there were so many things prior to that that we needed to clean up,” head coach Dana Altman said. 

Oregon’s offensive woes showed up yet again early in the contest, as the Ducks missed all of their first six shots. It wasn’t until a Nate Bittle tip-in over three minutes in that Oregon got on the scoreboard for the first time. 

That would be the first two of Bittle’s 14 first half points, and the senior center finished Sunday’s contest with a game-leading 22 points and 10 rebounds. 

“Nate did some really good things, I thought,” Altman said. 

The Ducks eventually blossomed that into a 6-0 run and their first lead of the game at 6-5. That run was made possible by the over three minute drought that UCLA sustained during that stretch. 

UCLA shot the 3-pointer incredibly well during the first 10 minutes, as the Bruins opened up Sunday afternoon by making four of their first seven attempts from deep. That number settled at 45% for the half and 52% for the game. 

With about nine minutes left in the opening half, it looked like something had flipped for Oregon. Kwame Evans Jr. tore through the lane for an and-one to drop UCLA’s lead back down to single-digits, which seemed to spark the energy in Matthew Knight Arena. 

On the following possession, Jadrian Tracey sank the Ducks’ first three of the game, which seemed to drop the collective inconsistencies Oregon had on offense. 

Just under a minute later, Jackson Shelstad, waltzed past half court and unloaded a scorcher for the team’s second three, which was followed by a deep Bittle catch-and-shoot that made it a one-point game. 

The Ducks finally tied the game up with three minutes to go in the opening frame, which, unsurprisingly, came from a wide-open Shelstad three. Despite not making a three for the first 11 minutes of the contest, Oregon ended the first half 5-11 from beyond the arc. It was another Bittle three that gave Oregon the lead at 32-29 for the first time since it was 6-5.

Shelstad scored all of his eight first half points in the final seven minutes of the frame, and his excellence ensured the Ducks would have the lead entering the break, as Oregon led 34-33 after the first 20 minutes. 

There was even less to split the two sides to begin the second half. Through four minutes, the teams were tied at 41 and each was shooting above 50% in the frame. 

After the opening five minutes of the second, the game quieted down significantly, especially with the ways that UCLA’s full-court press started to cause miscues for Oregon’s offense. With 11 minutes to play, the Ducks found themselves facing a six-point deficit. 

“I’m still in shock about what happened, honestly, but we do have a sense of resiliency as a team. We can win any game,” Keeshawn Barthelemy said. 

A quick Barthelemy three — a theme for second halves this season — and an incomplete Tracey and-one brought Oregon back to one-point behind within a minute. 

Oregon tied it up shortly afterwards, but each time the Ducks got close, UCLA would hit a huge shot to silence the crowd. Coupled with the full-court press that Oregon struggled mightily to break, the Bruins controlled the game when they needed to. 

That was until the Ducks started employing a press of their own. Altman’s press led Oregon on an 8-3 run during the first two minutes of its employment. The run was capped off by an incredible effort play from Barthelemy to block UCLA big man Tyler Bilodeau, which led into a Bittle layup to make it a two-point game. 

Bittle then tipped an entry pass, which was collected by Tracey, and the Ducks wasted no time getting up the court. The shot clock was off, and Shelstad saw his green light as soon as he crossed half court. 

Shelstad found space, pulled and didn’t come close to hitting the rim — nothing but net, Ducks up by one with 10 seconds. 

The Ducks just didn’t have the last shot. 

UCLA’s Dylan Andrews had the ball the whole way. He slipped near midcourt, but coming off a screen he found his spot, stepped back and banked in a winner to stun the crowd at Matthew Knight Arena. 

“We were switching ball screens and [Bittle] contested it really well,” Altman said. “He banked one in.”  

Oregon fell 73-71 in one of the more electrifying games it has played so far this season. 

The Ducks move on to take on Stephen F. Austin University next Sunday at 3 p.m. 

“A lot of things to work on,” Altman said.