LOS ANGELES — In a game of runs, the UCLA men’s basketball team squandered an 18 point lead in the first half but used an 9-0 run late in the final four minutes of the game, to pull away for a 71-63 win against Oregon at Pauley Pavilion Saturday night.
“We’re learning what winning effort is,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said. “There’s a difference between effort and winning effort and we played smart down the stretch, really smart defensively.”
It was the Bruins third straight win, and their fifth victory in the last six games and their first time back at .500 since Dec. 28 on the opening night of Pac-12 play.
“It’s a long year,” Cronin continued. “Everybody wants to rush to judgement, you have to give kids a chance to develop and when they’re good kids and they’ll listen, you have a chance as a coach.”
UCLA (11-11 overall, 6-5 Pac-12) was led by sophomore guard Dylan Andrews with a game-high 21 points and seven assists, just one of tying his career-highs in both categories. Andrews had 13 points in the second half. Freshman guard Sebastian Mack had 16 points. Junior guard Lazar Stefanovic had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Andrews, Mack and Stefanovic combined to score 52 of UCLA’s 71 points.
“I feel like we had to learn how to finish out games and learn how to finish a college basketball game,” Andrews said.
The Bruins outrebounded Oregon by a 36-30 margin, including 11-8 in offensive rebounds. UCLA also won the turnover battle 10-7, which equated to four more crucial field goals attempts (58) compared to the Ducks (54).
Oregon (15-7, 7-4 Pac-12) was led by senior center N’Faly Dante with 16 points and eight rebounds. Junior guard Jadrian Tracey had 15 points but was held to two points in the second half. Freshman guard Jackson Shelstad added 10 points.
After UCLA established a 23-5 lead early, Oregon responded with a 29-10 run over the last 12 minutes of the first half, and the Ducks led 34-33 at halftime.
“I knew it was fool’s gold early,” Cronin explained. “They’ve got too much talent, they have guys who can put the ball in the basket.”
After a back-and-forth start over the first six minutes of the second half, UCLA freshman center Aday Mara scored four key points to help the Bruins take a 52-48 lead at the 11:48 mark of the second half.
“I thought Aday played great,” Cronin continued.
The Bruins used a 9-0 run, which was capped off with Andrews’ jump shot, to extend their lead to 57-48 with 9:35 to go.
However, the Ducks responded with a 10-1 run, tying the game at 58 with 5:23 remaining. UCLA’s Stefanovic’s jump shot and two free throws put the Bruins up 62-58 with 4:44 to go.
Oregon senior guard Jermaine Couisnard’s three-pointer cut it to 62-61 with 4:30 to go.
“You just have to have the last run,” Cronin said. “Again, you have to be in these type of games and you can look back and say hindsight 20/20 but trust me because I do, it’s really hard for me to sleep but I have to remind myself that we probably had to go through the stuff we went through to get to where we are now.”
Meanwhile, UCLA’s Mack and Andrews combined to score nine straight points, which established an insurmountable 71-61 advantage with 46 seconds to go.
“Our focus was stops,” Stefanovic said. “That’s what were saying the huddle, we have to get stops. It’s a lot easier to play offense when you get a stop so you don’t have that pressure that you have to score. It gets the pressure off your back and you get to play a little more freely and the shots go in.”
“And with the a team like (Oregon) you don’t want to go back and forth with,” Mack added. “You want to try and limit them as many possessions as scoring as much as you can.”
Meanwhile, UCLA’s Mack scored seven of the Bruins’ first 10 points, including a three-pointer and a nifty layup through traffic. UCLA led 10-3 with 15:56 left in the first half. However, Mack only played six minutes in the first half after picking up two early fouls. Back-to-back buckets by sophomore forward Adem Bona and a three-pointer by Andrews, put the Bruins up 17-5, which forced Oregon coach Dana Altman to call a timeout with 14:29 left in the first. UCLA kept up the hot shooting during their 11-0 run, which extended their lead to 23-5 with 12:20 remaining in the first.
The Bruins were shooting 64.3% from the field, including 75% from 3 after the first 10 minutes.
However, the Ducks responded by outscoring the Bruins 27-8, which included a 14-0 run, over the next 11 minutes, including three consecutive three-pointers by Oregon’s Tracey, and then the go-ahead three-pointer by senior guard Kario Oquendo, which put Oregon up 32-31 with 1:07 remaining before halftime.
A short jump shot by freshman guard Jan Vide put the Bruins back up 33-32. However, a fast break by Oregon’s Tracey with three seconds to go in the first half, gave the Ducks a 34-33 lead at halftime.
UP NEXT
UCLA will play at Stanford on Wednesday, Feb. 7.
I’m breaking down UCLA men’s basketball’s 71-63 win at home against Oregon, who came into the game tied for first place in the PAC-12.
UCLA’s top 3 scorers combined for 52 of the team’s 71 points but it was the defense that earned them the victory and got them back to a .500… pic.twitter.com/SDfe3Ky3J1
— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) February 4, 2024
