UCLA men’s basketball loses, 82-64, to Oregon

Dana Altman’s stop sign went up and Oregon senior Joseph Young promptly blew right through it on his way to the rim.

That’s how in sync the Ducks felt during their 82-64 rout of UCLA on Saturday.

Midway through the second half a rare, hasty three-point try had Altman with both hands in the air on the Ducks’ next possession pleading for more ball movement.

A moment later, Young sped by his coach along the sideline for a driving layup that put Oregon up by 19 and forced a UCLA timeout.

It was that kind of game for the Ducks (14-6, 4-3 in Pac-12), who left the undermanned Bruins (11-9, 3-4) in the dust more often than not when they weren’t working for the best possible shot.

“We really talked the past couple of days about if we didn’t like what we got in transition, make them guard a little bit more,” Altman said. “I liked some of our possessions.

“They went longer and I thought we got better shots because of it.”

Young led five scorers in double figures with 16 points as Oregon rode 75% shooting from the field in the first half and Dwayne Benjamin’s perfect game off the bench to the victory.

Benjamin added 15 points while going six for six, including three for three beyond the arc. Elgin Cook had 11 points, and Jalil Abdul-Bassit and Ahmaad Rorie scored 10 each for the Ducks, who top the conference in three-point attempts but tried just 13 and made nine in the rout.

Norman Powell led UCLA with 23 points. Kevon Looney, who fouled out, and Bryce Alford added 15 points each.

The Ducks, whose lead reached 21 points three times in the second half, finished the game shooting 33 for 53 (62.3%) to the Bruins’ 25 for 61 (41.0%).

“Credit to Oregon,” Alford said. “They shot lights out and honestly, I’ve never seen somebody shoot that way, especially in the first half and continue the second half.”

Oregon also had a 31-28 edge in rebounds, led by Jordan Bell with seven.

Less than 48 hours after Oregon State’s zone defense flummoxed the Bruins into their second-poorest shooting game of the season in a 66-55 loss, UCLA found modest success against Oregon’s aggressive, switching man-to-man for most of the first half.

Alford had three three-pointers and 11 points, and Looney scored nine as the Bruins were 12 for 28 (42.9%) from the field.

However, the Ducks made all that moot with their best first half of the season, hitting 16 of their first 20 shots, including their first six three-pointers, for a 42-21 lead by the 3:55 mark. Eight Oregon players contributed to the 46-31 halftime margin, though none had more than eight points as four Ducks had at least one three-pointer.

“They like to come at you for 40 minutes straight,” Alford said. “The pace was bad for us and we could never keep up with them.”

Even after the Bruins started the second half by hitting six of their first seven shots, they still were down 15 at 62-47 as Oregon kept humming along. UCLA never came closer than 13 points the rest of the way.

Powell scored 16 points in the second half for the Bruins and finished two shy of his season high.

The Ducks’ bench outscored UCLA’s, 29-5. Four of Oregon’s five reserves scored and shot a combined 11 for 14.

“The last couple of games we feel like we’ve been moving the ball pretty well,” Benjamin said. “Tonight it definitely shows that if we move the ball, everyone can make open shots.”

UCLA NEXT

vs. Utah, at 7 p.m. Thursday at Pauley Pavilion. TV: ESPN 2. Radio: 570 — In their first meeting with Utah, the Bruins shot 28.8% from the field and chucked five air balls in a 71-39 loss.