When Josh Shipp’s desperation 3-pointer fell short, it was
as if an unimaginable reality had finally come to pass.
On Jan. 6, UCLA finally lost its first game, at the hands of
Aaron Brooks and Oregon.
But as No. 9 Oregon (19-2, 7-2 Pac-10) comes into Pauley
Pavilion tonight to face No. 5 UCLA (18-2, 7-2), revenge is not at
the forefront of the Bruins’ minds.
“It would have been,” junior guard Arron Afflalo
said. “I was kind of looking forward to this game to avenge
our one loss. But after Sunday … now it’s just solely about
winning the Pac-10.”
Tonight’s game is intriguing on many levels. It matches up
two top-10 teams, is for sole possession of first place in the
Pac-10, and features two top Pac-10 Player of the Year candidates:
Afflalo and Oregon senior Brooks.
And as good as UCLA has been at home this season (11-0), Oregon
has been nearly as impressive on the road. The Ducks are 7-1 away
from Eugene and have beaten three top-25 teams ““ Georgetown,
Arizona and Washington State ““ on the road.
For the season, the Ducks are 4-0 when facing a team in the top
25.
“They beat us, so they’re in first,” sophomore
forward Josh Shipp said. “We felt we should have won that
game (in Oregon) but we kind of let it slip away in the end.
It’s important for us to go out and prove that we should have
won that one.”
The Ducks will have a powerful weapon Thursday that they
didn’t even have when they beat the Bruins the first time.
Junior forward Malik Hairston, who is averaging 13 points and 6.1
rebounds per game, is expected to start for Oregon against UCLA.
Hairston, a 6-foot-6-inch junior, is best known for his ability to
score as a slasher. But in conference play, Hairston is shooting 57
percent from 3-point range as well. Hairston is also averaging 3.5
offensive rebounds per game.
“They’re a much better team with Hairston,”
UCLA coach Ben Howland said.
If the last time the two teams met was any indication, the key
for the Bruins will be slowing down Brooks.
Against UCLA, Brooks was absolutely dominant, sprinting past a
normally strong defensive Bruin backcourt for easy baskets. Brooks,
who has made 25 of his 45 3-point attempts in conference play, only
attempted one 3-pointer (which he made) against UCLA the first
time, but still put up a game-high 25 points.
“It starts with Aaron Brooks,” Howland said about
Oregon’s improvement as a team this year.
“There’s something that goes on sometimes as a senior
when the light goes on and you realize this is it. … They have
not lost a road game with Aaron Brooks in the lineup.”
Still, it would probably be a mistake for the Bruins to focus
solely on Brooks. Bryce Taylor, Hairston, Maarty Leunen and Tajuan
Porter have all proven to be capable shooters and scorers this
season and Brooks has done a good job of finding all of them when
he gets into trouble.
“We’re concerned about the Oregon team, we’re
not focused on one player,” sophomore forward/center Alfred
Aboya said. “It’s true that he’s their best
player, their leading scorer and all that, but our focus is on the
whole team.”
While Oregon has attempted what is far and away a Pac-10-leading
518 3-pointers on the season, the Ducks did not beat the Bruins
with 3-pointers in the first game.
In fact, UCLA attempted eight more 3-pointers than Oregon in
that game. Rather, it was the Ducks’ attacking offense,
quickness to the basket and transition game that gave the Bruins
fits.
“The first game when we played them, we couldn’t
stop their dribble penetration,” Aboya said. “They
would just get up off their dribble and get to the rim. So the
adjustment that we have to make is to stop that dribble
penetration. Once we do that and force them to play half-court, I
think we’ll have more of an advantage.”