EUGENE, Ore. ““ It was bound to happen. It was
inevitable.
They just didn’t think it would happen right away and not
on this day.
The No. 1 Bruins’ undefeated season was foiled Saturday as
they lost 68-66 to No. 16 Oregon before a hostile crowd of 9,087 at
sold-out Mac Court.
After the game, the Bruins’ captain, Arron Afflalo, was
distraught about the implications of the Bruins losing their
undefeated season.
“I’m young, but I understand history,” Afflalo
said. “You always want to do something special. I feel
that’s been stolen.”
UCLA (14-1, 3-1 Pac-10), off to its best start since the 1993-94
season, trailed throughout the game, but in the end had a final
chance to win or tie.
However, forward Josh Shipp’s off-balance three pointer at
the buzzer was off the mark. The Bruins fell to the Ducks (14-1,
3-1 Pac-10) for the first time as a No. 1-ranked team since
1974.
“I thought I had a decent chance to make it, but the play
kind of broke down,” Shipp said. “I just had to force
one up.”
During the timeout before the final possession with the Bruins
down two, coach Ben Howland ordered his players to go for the three
and try to win the game. Afterward, he regretted his decision.
“I take the blame for the final play,” Howland said.
“I wanted to go for the win, but it wasn’t there, and
we did not get a good shot at the end of the game.”
Long before that final play, however, the Bruins cost themselves
numerous chances at a victory.
In the first half, the Bruins allowed Oregon to complete 70
percent of its shots while only shooting 36 percent from the field,
and UCLA went into halftime down 10 points.
During the first 20-minute stretch, two of the Bruins’ top
three scorers, Afflalo and point guard Darren Collison were a
combined 0-9 from the field for a total of one point.
“We did not play well as a team in that first half,”
Collison said. “Their guards really played aggressively, and
we had a lot of trouble against their zone.”
Meanwhile, on Oregon’s side, Ducks’ point guard
Aaron Brooks continued his phenomenal season by scoring a game-high
25 points, including 16 in the first half.
Throughout the game, Brooks, the Pac-10’s leading scorer,
was able to penetrate at will against the Bruins’ defense. He
finished shooting 9 for 13 from the field.
“I was just fortunate that I was able to create some good
looks for myself,” Brooks said. “As a team, we made it
a point to be more aggressive after shooting so many threes on
Thursday against USC.”
Despite Brooks’ efforts, however, the Bruins still had a
chance to win the game.
Down nine with four minutes left, the Bruins left a furious
comeback behind the backs of Afflalo and Collison.
Both players hit three pointers, and with 20 seconds left,
Collison hit a three-pointer that tied the game at 66-all.
At that point, the Bruins thought the game was theirs.
“After we came all the way back, I thought we had
it,” Afflalo said. “But things just didn’t work
out.”
Following the Collison jumper, Brooks drove around the Bruin
defense and hit a 17-foot jumper that turned out to be the
game-winning shot.
In the end, it was Brooks’ outstanding play and the
Bruins’ careless turnovers that ended up costing them the
game.
One play that stood out was an alley-oop Shipp tried to throw to
center Lorenzo Mata with the Bruins down three and only a minute
and 30 seconds left.
The ball went off the backboard and eventually into the
Ducks’ hands.
Had the Bruins scored on that possession, Brooks may have never
had the chance to shoot the game-winner.
“It was a stupid turnover by me,” Shipp said.
“I got caught up in the flow of the game, but it’s
something to learn from.”
On Saturday, the Bruins lost their first true road game test and
most likely their No. 1 ranking, but they are not hanging their
heads.
After all, the Bruins are still tied for first place in the
Pac-10 and have a chance to redeem themselves against crosstown
rival USC next week.
“Luckily for us, this loss came for us at the beginning of
the season,” Collison said. “Not all losses are bad
losses because they are something we can learn from.”