Oregon MBB recap: Bruins come alive to defeat Ducks
The Oregon men’s basketball team played one good half.
Unfortunately against a team like UCLA, that’s not nearly enough. The Bruins outscored the Ducks 44-29 in the second half to defeat Oregon 65-56 inside Pauley Pavilion.
With the loss, Oregon falls to 4-5 overall and 1-1 in Pac-12 action. UCLA improved to 7-2 and 2-0 in conference play.
It was definitely a tale of two halves. The Ducks played great defense in the first half, but after the break, Oregon played virtually no defense. It was also crushed on the boards, especially on the offensive end. The Bruins managed to pull down 16 offensive rebounds and scored 13 second-chance points.
Oregon shot 24-of-49 from the field, but just 4-of-17 from long range and they could never get to the free-throw line on a regular basis. The Ducks were just 4-of-7 from the charity stripe.
Forward Quincy Guerrier was off to a good start, but he hurt his ankle late in the first half and although he came back to play, his effectiveness never quite came back.
Final Score: UCLA 65, Oregon 56
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Keys to the game
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Oregon locked down on the defensive side of the floor and held the Bruins to just 21 first-half points. But the Ducks couldn’t take full advantage and held just a six-point halftime lead.
That’s where the good news ends for the Ducks. The Bruins came out as a different team and more than doubled their scoring output for the first half.
UCLA made a concerted effort to pound the glass and the 16 offensive rebounds paid dividends. Those 13 second-chance points were just about the difference in the game.
Bruin freshman Amari Bailey scored all 14 of his points after the halftime break. He was able to take advantage of Guerrier’s bad ankle to drive past the hoop with little resistance.
Oregon turned the ball over 15 times, about five times more than it could afford in order to pull off an upset like this.
UCLA coach Mick Cronin finally managed to get the best of Dana Altman. Oregon was able to defeat his UCLA team in the first five games.
It's on the stat sheet
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Quincy Guerrier: 15 points, 6-13 FG
Will Richardson: 13 points, 6-12 FG, 5 assists
N’Faly Dante: 9 points, 4-5 FG, 5 rebounds
Jaylen Clark (UCLA): 14 points
Amari Bailey (UCLA): 14 points, 7-12 FG
What's next?
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The Ducks go back to the non-conference portion of the schedule as they host Nevada Dec. 10. The Wolfpack are currently 7-2 overall. They will play Pepperdine before making the trip to Eugene.
