Lonzo Ball does not relive the play in his head like some traumatic sequence. He is not haunted by Dillon Brooks taking a handoff from a teammate, dribbling frantically around a screen and launching a three-point shot with Ball’s hand in his face during the final second of UCLA’s Pac-12 Conference opener against Oregon in late December.
It doesn’t matter that the ball went in the basket, giving the Bruins their first defeat of the season and Ball his first setback since the end of his junior year in high school. That’s not the ending Ball cares about during what’s expected to be his only college season.
“Since the beginning of the season, the focus was to win a national championship, not a Pac-12 title,” said Ball, the UCLA freshman point guard, “but we’re just trying to get ready for March.”
Those preparations include a rematch between No. 10 UCLA (21-3, 8-3 Pac-12) and No. 5 Oregon (21-3, 10-1) on Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion in a game that the Bruins hope will allow them to provide payback on multiple fronts. They would like to get even with the Ducks while rewarding fans for their support nearly three weeks after a dud against Arizona in their most recent home game.
“Having a sellout and having a big student section like that,” UCLA shooting guard Bryce Alford said, “we want to give them a show.”
Another capacity crowd is expected in a game that could be considered a last stand of sorts for the Bruins’ conference title chances. UCLA trails Oregon and Arizona each by two games in the Pac-12 standings, meaning the Bruins would need help even with a triumph over both teams.
Arizona appears to have the toughest remaining schedule, with games against UCLA, USC and California — each in the top five of the conference standings — left after Thursday. Oregon must face only USC and Cal among the Pac-12 contenders the rest of the way, and UCLA will play the Trojans as well as Arizona.
The Bruins and Ducks are also jostling for NCAA tournament seedings. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has both teams with No. 4 regional seedings in his latest projections, and Arizona is listed with a No. 2 seeding.
That may seem a bit backward considering Oregon is coming off a 27-point thrashing of the Wildcats last week in which Brooks scored 18 points in 22 minutes, but Coach Dana Altman noted Tuesday during a conference call with reporters his team’s recent inconsistencies with ball movement and shot selection. Neither was on display against Arizona.
“We went 16 of 25 from three,” Altman said of his team’s proficiency from long range against the Wildcats, “and we don’t shoot that well in shooting drills occasionally.”
UCLA has made some recent defensive strides, though they came against teams far less capable than the Ducks. Oregon has made 43.6% of its three-point shots in conference play, making it the only Pac-12 team to top UCLA’s 41.9% accuracy from beyond the arc.
The Bruins haven’t fixated on Brooks’ game-winning three-pointer from their first meeting as much as what preceded it. Their defense allowed the Ducks to score 15 of the game’s final 20 points, providing an opening after Alford missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity at the free-throw line with 8.9 seconds left.
Of course, that doesn’t make the ending any less painful.
“That does sting you when you know you’ve got the game, you had the game, you contested the shot as well as you could contest it and a very good player just made a very good shot,” Coach Steve Alford said, “but I think the guys have moved on from that.”
Nobody appears to have forgotten the play more quickly than Ball.
“I was there,” Ball said. “He made a good shot. Move on.”
::
UP NEXT
VS. OREGON
When: 7 p.m., Thursday.
Where: Pauley Pavilion.
On the air: TV: ESPN; Radio: 570.
Update: This is the start of UCLA’s longest homestand in Pac-12 Conference play, with three consecutive games and five of their next seven at Pauley Pavilion. Coach Steve Alford described the matchup against the Ducks as fairly even because both teams feature strong guard play to go with a stout inside presence. Alford also noted that Oregon was the only team this season that has outscored the Bruins in transition points, leading him to emphasize the importance of turnovers and rebounding. UCLA freshman forward TJ Leaf has bounced back from the first mini-slump of his career, becoming the Wayman Tisdale national freshman of the week after averaging 26 points and 12 rebounds, and shooting 74.2% during victories over Washington State and Washington. Fellow freshman Lonzo Ball has been selected to the Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 list. The award, sponsored by the Los Angeles Athletic Club, goes to the national player of the year.
ben.bolch@latimes.com
Twitter: @latbbolch
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