LOS ANGELES — The No. 5 Oregon Ducks blew a 19-point lead Thursday night to the No. 10 UCLA Bruins. The Ducks get back on the horse on Saturday against USC, but until then, here’s 10 takeaways from the 82-79 loss.
1. So, that was a surprise
Look, if you’re just looking at the final score, nothing surprising really happened on Thursday. The No. 10 team in the country defeated the No. 5 team in the country by three points at home in front of a sellout crowd. That happens. It’s just the way it happened that was shocking. Everyone on press row was getting ready to write a different iteration of our stories from Saturday’s Arizona game before the Ducks’ offense clammed up and the Bruins made their comeback. Like most of you, I was most surprised by the change in Oregon’s offense. It just stopped. Oregon’s ball movement slowed down to nothing, the Ducks were taking until the end of the shot clock to shoot, and a normally bad Bruins defense was good enough to force bad shots as the clock expired. On paper, this wasn’t a bad loss. In real life, it was.
2. Late? More like just in time
UCLA’s crowd absolutely played a factor last night. Yes, it showed up a little bit late, but by the time the Bruins made their run it was rocking at Pauley. It was as loud in there last night as any arena I’ve been to, other than McKale at Arizona, and that intensity seemed to play a factor when things turned chaotic for the Ducks on offense.
3. Vegas should be (more) fun
After Saturday, Oregon looked like the titan of the Pac-12. Now? While Arizona is now in the driver’s seat for the regular season title, the Pac-12 Tournament should be fantastic. On a neutral court I think Oregon is the best team in the conference, but if anybody started downplaying how much of a factor UCLA can be late, it’s probably best to reconsider.
4. Pritchard in crunch time
Oregon freshman Payton Pritchard has been hosed out of being a hero twice now. When everyone else was “stuck in the mud” as Dana Altman described it, Pritchard turned on the jets late. He ended Oregon’s scoring drought late with a cutting layup and then hit a long three-pointer to pull the game within two before Lonzo Ball went to work. This is Oregon’s second loss in a row where Pritchard seemed to be the only player playing his best in crunch time. Pritchard was the only Oregon player who finished with a positive plus/minus, ending his night plus-6.
5. Lonzo Baller
I mean, come on. I wasn’t particularly impressed with the way Ball played in UCLA’s loss to Oregon a month ago, but last night he was fantastic. After shaking off a bad first half, not only did Ball score five of UCLA’s final seven points – including that three-pointer from the Hollywood sign – but he absolutely shut down Dillon Brooks once UCLA’s defensive rotation was switched up with 15 minutes to go. Brooks scored 11 points in the first five minutes of the second half. He wouldn’t score again.
6. Jordan Bell’s sneaky good game
Like Pritchard’s, Jordan Bell’s night will likely get overlooked. While he wasn’t at his best offensively (3 of 7 for nine points), Bell pulled down a career-high 15 rebounds. Nobody else had more than five for the Ducks.
7. How did that happen?
The Ducks had three turnovers last night, and lost.
8. Boucher inside
Altman has been encouraging Chris Boucher to take more shots inside over the last couple weeks. He wants two inside shots for every three taken. Last night wasn’t a great example. Four of Boucher’s nine attempts were three-pointers, with him connecting on just one. According to CBS Sports’ shot chart, Boucher had one dunk, was 0 for 2 on layups and hit 2 of 6 jumpers. This isn’t to pick on Boucher, his game was just an example of an overarching problem for the Ducks last night. The Bruins killed the Ducks inside, outscoring the Ducks 34-26 in the paint.
9. Goodbye 1-seed, for now
The NCAA Tournament selection committee is releasing its early top 16 on Saturday. Think of it as a light version of what the College Football selection committee does in the weeks leading up to the end of the football season. Had Oregon won on Thursday, the Ducks would have had a really strong case to be a one-seed. Now? They’re probably in line for a three.
10. If a good team plays and nobody sees it …
It wouldn’t surprise me if Oregon bounces back in a big way on Saturday. Yes, USC has been playing great lately, but the Ducks looked far superior in their first meeting and here’s the X-factor: While all four of Oregon’s losses this year have come on the road, the Galen Center essentially plays as a neutral court. The Trojans are 21-4, yet only 4,183 fans attend per game. That’s not good.
— Tyson Alger
talger@oregonian.com
@tysonalger
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