The Pac-10's already schizophrenic conference race stepped into the Twilight Zone Thursday evening when Oregon snapped a five-game losing streak by upending UCLA 71-66 in overtime.
An effective zone defense and a new starting line-up gave Oregon an offensive spark they had been lacking since opening conference play with a pair of road wins.
Consider - Oregon hasn't won at McArthur Court since defeating Arkansas-Pine Bluff one month earlier. No, the 2009-10 version of the UCLA Bruins is a far cry from the dominant teams that honorary captain Bill Walton brought to the pit in the early 70's, but don't discount the importance for the 2009-10 Ducks to make that break through.
In what he said was "a tradition we will do from here on out" - Oregon head coach threw open the doors of his locker room to the Pit Crew before the Ducks took the floor. The added adrenaline seemed to have helped.
In those last five losses, three times Oregon never held a lead and in the last two, early leads quickly evaporated into lop sided losses. Not this time.
The Ducks opened an early lead and held it for the game's first five minutes. UCLA's Nikola Dragovic lead the Bruins with 19 points and his pair of three-balls started a Bruin run that ended up with Ducks trailing by 13 five minutes before the break.
Point guard Malcolm Armstead's two free throws started a 12-0 Oregon streak that was capped by a pair of long shots by Tajuan Porter and the Ducks headed into the break trailing 31-28, but very much a different team than the Ducks of late.
Porter's trey gave Oregon the lead 35-34 early in the second half and Oregon would not trail again. Jamil Wilson and Jeremy Jacobs hit back to back jumpers to expand Oregon's lead to five. When Porter, then Matt Humphrey hit back to back from three five minutes later, the Ducks were up by seven and seemingly ready to take firm control of the game.
Nothing comes easy for this group and Oregon scored only a free throw in the game's last 3:30. With 11 seconds remaining, UCLA's Michael Roll hit a three to tie the game at 55.
Humphrey opened the extra session by hitting two from behind the arc, then E.J. Singler crashed the offensive board to tip in a Humphrey miss. Singler's lay-up on Oregon's next possession gave the Ducks a 65-59 lead.
Oregon was a perfect 6-6 from the line down the stretch and the Ducks came away with a well deserved - and much needed - conference win.
Humphrey and Porter lead the Ducks with 15 points. Jacobs and Michael Dunigan combined for 19 points (11 and 8 respectively) to give Oregon the inside offense they need to reduce the defensive pressure on the perimeter.
Poor shooting has been a consistent theme during Oregon's five game slide and although 42.9% isn't noteworthy it was better than the 39.1% the Duck's zone defense allowed the Bruins.
