After opening their new 230-million dollar arena with a win over USC, the Ducks hosted UCLA Saturday afternoon at Matthew Knight Arena. Oregon's momentum carried over from the previous game in the first half, but the Bruins took control in the second half and garnered a 67-59 win over the Ducks.
"I am disappointed. We had our opportunity and we didn't seize it," said Ducks coach Dana Altman. "We got beat on second chance points in the second half and it was the difference in the game. Some of it was carelessness and we didn't rebound like we needed to. We had some careless turnovers, and we had some bad possessions."
The Bruins shot 50 percent for the day and a blistering 56 percent in the second half as UCLA outscored the Ducks 43-32 to win its 11th game of the season and to improve to 3-2 in conference play. Oregon dropped to 8-10 overall and just 1-5 in Pac-10 action.
Malcolm Lee led the Bruins with 18 points while both Jerime Anderson and Joshua Smith each added 15. Oregon was led by E.J. Singler's 15 points and Jeremy Jacob's 12. The Ducks were once again without the services of their leading scorer, Joevan Catron, who is nursing a strained calf.
Oregon played well for the first 20 minutes of the game and built a 12-point lead at 25-13 with six minutes left in the first half, but the Bruins used their muscle inside to impose their will on the Ducks and closed out the half on a 11-3 run.
UCLA kept up the attack in the second half, but the Ducks battled back throughout and kept themselves close. Oregon even took the lead back at 40-38 with a nifty up and under moved from Tyrone Nared.
The Bruins made good use of key second chance points and Lee nailed two three-pointers over Oregon's 2-3 zone defense for a 63-57 lead with two minutes left.
"We didn't box out. Those were key points to their win," said Singler on the Bruins second chance opportunities. "We just didn't play as hard in the second half and that's why we lost.
"(Ben) Howland is a good coach and he changed some things up in the second half. At the end, it was us just not playing hard, which was a big reason for our loss."
Oregon was outrebounded 37-30 and that ultimately cost the Ducks the game.
"We have to play well on all cylinders," Altman said. "Our margin of error is not very big, just like our team. We left a lot of the rebounding up to J.J. (Jeremy Jacob), E.J. (Singler), and Tyrone (Nared) and they're not that big either."
The Ducks will take the week to tweak some things before taking on Oregon State in the first Civil War of the season up in Corvallis. The Beavers are also reeling on a four-game losing streak after sweeping the Arizona schools in the first weekend of the Pac-10 schedule.
