There were moments in the first half of Oregon’s 75-68 victory over UCLA when the Ducks seemed to return to old form. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205366100@@
Aside from missing 24 of 31 shots from the field in the opening 20 minutes, Oregon looked downright flat as they were outrebounded by 10 and allowed the Bruins several second-chance opportunities.
“This game is played with passion and energy, and we didn’t have it (in the first half),” Oregon head coach Dana Altman said. “The start of the second half was critical. We got a couple shots down, the press really energized us, and the crowd was unbelievable.”
The Ducks (15-5, 6-2 Pac-12) trailed by 13 at intermission but eventually found a rhythm early in the second half en route to their fourth-straight Pac-12 victory. The four-game conference winning streak is the first under Altman’s direction, and the last time Oregon won four league games in a row was 2006-07 when Aaron Brooks was a senior. @@http://pac-12.org/SPORTS/BasketballM/Standings.aspx@@
Heading into another big matchup with Oregon State on Sunday, the Ducks are currently tied for first place with California (16-5, 6-2) in the Pac-12 standings. Oregon is feeling good about its back-to-back weekend sweeps, but is this now one of the most dangerous teams in the Pac-12? @@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=235&SPSID=4294@@
“We’re playing like one right now,” junior forward E.J. Singler said. “But we’ve still got a tough one next Sunday against the Beavers. They’re just as dangerous.” @@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=235&SPSID=4295@@
Singler played a masterful role in helping Oregon to its 15th victory in 20 outings this season. He recorded 16 of his career-high 26 points at the free-throw line — with only one miss to his credit — including 8 of 8 in the last 60 seconds.
As a team, Oregon made seven more free throws (28 of 32) than UCLA attempted (10 of 21), while playing to a tie on the boards (37) after trailing by 10 in that category at the half.
“I know if I go up to the foul line it’s just a lot of repetition,” Singler said. “I go up knowing that I’m gonna make it. I got in a good groove tonight and it felt good.”
Senior guard Garrett Sim, who led Oregon with 20 points on 4-of-6 three-point shooting in the win over USC on Thursday night, provided the Ducks with the exact spark they needed to start the second half. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=235&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205365178@@
Trailing by 11, Sim knocked down a three in front of the Oregon bench and was fouled on the way down, then converted the four-point play to cut the lead to seven. The Portland native found the bottom of the net from deep again less than a minute later, and all of a sudden it became a two-possession game.
Shooting 47.4 percent from beyond the three-point line this season — the highest mark in the Pac-12 — Sim said he had no reservations about taking a few extra shots from long range. @@http://www.pac-12.org/portals/7/images/MBasketball/2011-12-stats/HTML/CONFONLY.HTM@@
“I wasn’t really hunting them, but after that and-one I knew if I got the next open look I was definitely going to take it,” said Sim, who finished with 16 points on 3-of-7 three-pointers. “Any time I get an open three, I’m going to shoot it with confidence and that’s what I was doing.”
Altman said Sim’s sharp shooting was just what Oregon needed to get going in the second half, which the Ducks turned into a 15-2 run to open the second half.
“We just needed to get something to get going,” Altman said. “Get the crowd going and get everybody into the game and we needed to get our team in the game.
“It was a big shot and we needed it at that point and it really got the crowd energized and our players believing that we were coming back and were going to get it done.”