The No. 16 Oregon Ducks (16-5, 5-5 Big Ten) have not won games where it failed to shoot threes efficiently, and Thursday night’s 78-52 loss against the UCLA Bruins (16-6, 7-4 Big Ten) followed that script.
The Ducks endured two stretches — one in each half — over five and a half minutes where they didn’t score a field goal in the lowest scoring game for Oregon this season.
Oregon also shot 4-23 from deep while the Bruins trounced that with their 11-23 clip. It didn’t help that Oregon’s usual stout defense — averaging 70.3 points against per game heading into Thursday — failed to answer.
The Ducks still stumbled into this matchup as losers of two of their last three contests. The Bruins aimed to continue their four-game winning streak.
The first five minutes included a boatload of scoring, mostly from the Bruins, as they took an early five point lead heading into the first TV timeout.
Nate Bittle opened his game early, scoring six points in that stretch, but was outdone by UCLA’s Eric Dailey Jr., who posted seven. Bittle finished with 13 and Dailey closed his tab at a game-leading 21.
Given UCLA’s size, Oregon experimented with smaller lineups, which caused issues for the Bruins’ defense. The Ducks hit their first three as Bittle connected from deep in the first offensive possession with the small lineup.
Keeshawn Barthelemy followed that up with a stop on defense and a triple of his own to cut the UCLA lead to three.
The Ducks struggled to close out shooters in the first half, as the Bruins hit five of their 13 attempts from deep. Further, UCLA shot 55% in the opening frame, which the Ducks couldn’t match at 35%.
A lot of that was due to Oregon not being able to defend Dailey using an off-ball screen to curl up to the elbow and hit an easy jumper. Oregon also failed to score for over six minutes while the Bruins relished in a 9-0 run.
UCLA made its last four shots to end the half and took a dominant 40-26 lead heading into the break.
The Ducks, as is customary when they go down by any significant margin this season, responded.
Oregon made six of its first seven shots of the half, which was enough to cut the UCLA lead to 10. TJ Bamba’s effective work in the paint shined, as he scored the last four of a 10-3 Oregon run at the beginning of the second.
The Ducks couldn’t score as efficiently as the Bruins, which removed Oregon’s most effective shooter Jackson Shelstad who didn’t tally a single point. Shelstad only took two shots.
An almost six-minute field goal drought and a 12-4 UCLA run allowed the Bruins to pull ahead by 18 halfway through the second.
Oregon never recovered after that, UCLA continued to pour on offense and the Bruins took a resounding victory 78-52. The Ducks failed to get their revenge from the heartbreaking loss back in early December.
Oregon returns home to take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Sunday afternoon.
