EUGENE, Ore. – Credit the defense.
Both UCLA’s and Oregon’s for coming up big down the stretch in the No. 21 Ducks’ (12-2, 1-0 Pac-12) 89-87 upset win.
The No. 2 Bruins (13-1, 0-1 Pac-12) had clawed back from a 12-point deficit to grab an eight-point lead before their defense faltered and disappeared with four minutes left in the game.
Their defense started out slow in the first half – similar to the nonconference games against Michigan, Ohio State and Texas A&M in which combinations of cold shooting and sloppy passing fueled the opposing teams.
UCLA couldn’t rotate quick enough or close out the Ducks’ open looks especially from beyond the arc, and its normally high-octane offense just couldn’t sink enough shots to make up the difference.
Oregon shot 50 percent from 3-point range to just 36.4 percent from the visitors heading into the locker room.
“In the first half, we were very soft on the defensive end,” said senior guard Bryce Alford. “Second half, we amped it up and started to guard them.”
That energy that was missing in the first half swung the momentum in the Bruins’ favor for the first 15 minutes of the second half.
They contested the Ducks’ shots, went on a 17-0 run and seemed on the way to their 14th win of the season.
It was shaping up to be another UCLA-esque game.
“We played much better as a team in the second half and did a lot of things we wanted to do,” said junior center Thomas Welsh. “But we didn’t close out the game the way we needed to.”
The Ducks hung around, and behind their own defense, kept the game just close enough down the stretch.
They forced the fast-paced UCLA offense into 14 turnovers for 17 points and held the Bruins to their lowest point total all season – enough to open the door for Oregon’s senior Dillon Brooks’ buzzer-beating 3-point shot.
Oregon outscored UCLA 17-8 in the final four minutes, buoyed by their rebounding.
The Ducks snatched 16 offensive rebounds for 18 second chance points away from Welsh and freshman center Ike Anigbogu whom coach Steve Alford opted for for his defense instead of the typical closing four-guard lineup.
But even with their bigs, UCLA couldn’t find a way to stem the Oregon run.
“The challenge isn’t whether we can make free throws or make shots, but if we can get stops,” Alford said. “But we weren’t able to close this one out. We were up with four minutes to go, but we lost that four minute game.”
They lost those four minutes.
And that cost them their undefeated record.