EUGENE, Ore. “”mdash; They were without three of their top seven players.
They were coming off what could at best be described as a demoralizing loss to USC at home last Saturday.
And they were heading into a cauldron of hostility in MacArthur Court ““ made all the more hostile by the Ducks’ fans antipathy for Oregon native and current UCLA freshman center Kevin Love.
But with a chant of “Love’s a bitch” being one of the least profane of many phrases spewed at Love throughout the game, the Bruins and Love managed to pull off a remarkable, undermanned, come-from-behind 80-75 victory over Oregon that propels UCLA into sole possession of first place in the Pac-10.
“That was one of the best wins I’ve ever been a part of in 27 years in this business,” coach Ben Howland said. “To beat them up here is unbelievable.
“This is probably one of the toughest environments in the country to play in, much less the Pac-10.”
Doesn’t Love know it. The UCLA freshman dealt with chants during the pregame warmups and throughout the game. Expletive-laden aspersions were cast on his sexual orientation, his weight and his father throughout via chants and signs from the Oregon students.
But given how he played, there can be few aspersions cast on his game.
Love dominated the paint and controlled the offensive end of the floor for the Bruins, scoring 26 points and getting 18 rebounds against the undersized but crafty Oregon front line.
“I’m not gonna lie to you, it’s pretty nice, it’s pretty nice,” Love said. “They got a great crowd. This is definitely the toughest place I’ve ever played so far.
“I haven’t been happier after (a) win this whole season.”
And it felt all the better because it was hard fought. The Bruins fell behind by as large a margin as 58-51 in the second half. With the score 71-67 with just 3:33 to go, it appeared that the Ducks, with no one in serious foul trouble, would be in the driver’s seat the rest of the game.
Then little-used forward Nikola Dragovic stepped up and hit a 3, guard Russell Westbrook got a steal under his own basket that he converted on a fast break layup, and point guard Darren Collison converted two free throws to give the Bruins a three-point edge with about a minute to go.
From there, it was just a game of hitting their free throws for the Bruins as they sealed the improbable victory.
But ultimately, the fact that the game did not outwardly become a battle between the psyche of Love and the hostile crowd says a lot about the poise of the freshman in the eyes of his teammates.
“It was big-time. He didn’t let the crowd get to him,” guard/forward Josh Shipp said. “It was definitely pretty bad, but he didn’t let it bother him. They probably had fun with it, but we won the game, so we don’t really care.”
Love had his worries before the game, thanks to various students at Oregon finding his cell phone number and calling him. But he was all rebounds and hook shots once he stepped out on the court.
“Last night he was calling me and texting me and I was like, “˜Man, don’t worry about it,'” Collison said. “Not at all. He was talking about it. When he got on the court, he forgot about it all.”
SCANNING THE BLEACHERS: Following the win, when McArthur Court had been virtually vacated, several Bruin players walked toward where the Oregon student section had been seated and began looking through the signs that had been created to poke fun at freshman Kevin Love.
Lorenzo Mata-Real picked up one that had Love’s phone number on it, as Duck fans had gotten hold of it and had been calling the number several times in the week leading up to the game.
“I did get a lot of calls, but we outsmarted them a little bit,” Love said. “I thought I’d pay attention to it, but I didn’t even look at any of the signs.”
INJURY UPDATE: Both Mata-Real and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute said they would shoot around on Friday, but neither was confident about their status for Saturday night’s game against Oregon State as Mbah a Moute said he has been waking up with headaches and isn’t sure how long that will continue to be an issue.
Meanwhile, Michael Roll will be out for the next two weeks.
With reports from Ajaybir Behniwal, Bruin Sports senior staff.