How it happened: Oregon men’s basketball defeated by UCLA as first losing streak begins

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UCLA guard Skyy Clark, left, knocks the ball out of Oregon forward Brandon Angel on Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.

Another sluggish start, followed by long stretches of empty possessions on offense, followed by a forgettable night for one of its star players, concluded with Oregon dropping a second straight game for the first time this season.

The No. 18 Ducks entered their game against UCLA Thursday night with the higher ranking and better record but were thoroughly outplayed by the Bruins in a 78-52 Big Ten men’s basketball loss inside Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.

Oregon (16-5, 5-5 Big Ten) has now lost three of its last four games, and with two of its five losses this season coming against UCLA (16-6, 7-4).

The Ducks scored a season low and were outshot 55.6% to 41.2% on Thursday, allowed 11 3-pointers and were outrebounded 31-28 by a Bruins team that won its fifth straight.

“They shot the heck out of it and we didn’t,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said during his postgame radio interview on KUJZ-FM.

Nate Bittle rebounded from a scoreless performance in the loss to Minnesota last weekend to lead the Ducks with 13 points, though the senior center also went 1 for 6 from 3-point range on a night Oregon made just 4 of 23 from deep – its fewest made 3s and worst shooting percentage (17.4%) in a game this season.

But while Bittle was able to have a productive night on offense, Jackson Shelstad did not as the point guard went scoreless on 0-for-2 shooting, ending a streak of six straight double-digit scoring efforts.

Keeshawn Barthelemy scored 12 for the Ducks and TJ Bamba added 11 points.

“Obviously we took too many 3s and didn’t hit them,” Altman said. “It’s been a problem for us.”

Two of Oregon’s 3-pointers came on consecutive possessions midway through the first half that cut UCLA’s lead to 21-18 with 9:42 to play before halftime. But the Bruins followed with a 19-8 run to end the half with a 40-26 advantage – the largest halftime…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/happened-oregon-mens-basketball-defeated-130320440.html

Author : The Register-Guard

Publish date : 2025-01-31 13:03:00

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