For one half, UCLA played like a team with nothing to lose, looking to spoil Oregon’s Pac-12 title hopes.
Then reality hit, and the No. 9 Ducks (24-6, 13-4 Pac-12) came roaring back behind a 22-9 second-half rebounding advantage to outlast the Bruins (15-15, 6-11) 76-68 and clinch at least a share of the conference crown.
The Bruins attacked the paint early and relentlessly, building up an 11-point lead with 3:55 left in the first half behind a stifling zone defense.
Forward/center Tony Parker – the lone senior on the team – came out of the gates looking to make a statement in the last homestand of his UCLA career, taking it right into the teeth of Oregon’s defense.
Parker muscled his way to UCLA’s first nine points, capping it off with a dunk before picking up his second foul and heading to the bench early with a 14-9 deficit.
Then the Bruin guards woke up.
Junior Isaac Hamilton, junior Bryce Alford and freshman Aaron Holiday combined to score 21 of UCLA’s next 23 points before another Parker dunk pushed the lead to nine.
After holding the Ducks to just 35.7 percent shooting from the field, including a 3-for-13 clip from three-point range, the Bruins were up five at halftime.
But the zone that was so effective in the first half became UCLA’s Achilles’ heel in the second, as the Bruins gave up seven offensive rebounds and second chance points. Four of those back-breaking points came in the last 2:49 when UCLA was trying to make one last run.
“In the zone, you’ve got to really find bodies,” Parker said. “When the ball goes up, it’s not like a 5-on-5 where you know who you’re going to box out, so it’s just a different adjustment. We didn’t make it in the second half, but they did.”
Coach Steve Alford couldn’t find anything wrong with how UCLA played besides the rebounding issue in the second half and the free throw advantage the Ducks held.
It was also the defense that doomed the Bruins. Oregon made the necessary adjustments at halftime to attack the zone instead of settling for threes, shooting 54.8 percent in the second half. After going 4-for-10 in the paint in the first half, the Ducks feasted inside on 11-for-15 for 22 points.
No matter the exact issue, it’s been a different story, but same ending for UCLA for much of the conference season.
“When you lose, it messes up your whole night,” Parker said. “It’s just a bad feeling and a sour taste. I’ve had this taste in my mouth too much this year, and we have to turn it around fast.”