By DSH contributor Eric Sloat
Oh, this one hurts.
Fresh off their mauling of the Cougars, and looking at a stretch of 7 of the next 11 games at home, the Ducks fall to the Bruins, 70-68. The Ducks were, “The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly” against the Bruins.
Last shot with no shot: UCLA's Kyle Anderson knocks away Johnathan Loyd's last-second shot in Oregon's 70-68 loss at Matthew Knight Arena (Scott Olmos-USA TODAY Sports images).
In the first half they looked a lot like the team that started the season, passing the ball around, active on defense. Joe Young in particular, looked like his old self, scoring 14 points in the first half on 4-5 shooting, 3 of 4 on 3’s and 3-3 on free throws. The turnovers that had plagued Oregon during their tailspin were under control.
But, here comes the bad. With 2:03 to go in the first half and the Ducks leading 33-28, misstep by misstep for the Ducks, Jason Calliste trying to make a big play instead throws an errant pass, that is intercepted by Norman Powell of the Bruins, whom was then fouled by Calliste and sinks two freethrows, 33-30. On the next possession, Amardi connects on free throw, boosts the lead back up to 4.
Next, Carter blocks a shot, ends up fouling Travis Wear, who connects on both free throws, 34-32, then the Ducks are called for 10 seconds, turn the ball back over to the Bruins. The Ducks survived that turnover, Young connected on a jump shot, and Oregon closed the first half leading, 36-32
The Ugly would show up at the start of the second half, with UCLA going on a 13-2 run, turning the 4 point deficit into a 7 point lead, 45-38 with 14:02 left.
The Ducks kept it even for the next 7 minutes, until Powell makes a layup, gets fouled, hits the free throw, and with 7:20 left, it’s Bruins by 10, 62-52. There was no quit In the Ducks though. In the next 6 minutes, Oregon outscores UCLA, 16-3, and leads 68-65 with 1:12 left in the game.
But everything would go wrong for the Ducks the rest of the way. Richard Amardi is in perfect position to take a charge, but is six inches into the circle when contact is made; Wear connects on a free throw. Calliste fires up a 3, it goes halfway down, before spurting out. Score is tied, Anderson misses a jump shot, Amardi grabs the rebound, but is tied up, according to the officials, and the possession arrow points to UCLA.
Given possession with 9 seconds left, the Bruins take 5 of them before Wear hits a 19 footer to take the lead, 70-68. Oregon has one last chance, but Loyd’s shot is blocked, game over, the second two point loss at home in a row, with Oregon again missing the final shot.
Oregon didn’t get any breaks tonight. When a team is in a streak like they are in now, it just seems to go that way.
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