UCLA
6-7,1-1Pac-12
Oregon
10-3,2-0Pac-12
UCLA Falls to Oregon, 64-59, in Eugene
December 30, 2023 | Men's Basketball
EUGENE, Ore. – The UCLA men's basketball team dropped a 64-59 decision to Oregon in a Pac-12 contest at Matthew Knight Arena on Saturday afternoon.
An 18-foot jump shot by sophomore Dylan Andrews trimmed the Bruins' deficit to one point, 60-59, with 32 seconds remaining. A fastbreak dunk out of a timeout by Oregon's Kwame Evans Jr. on the ensuing play and two made free throws by Jackson Shelstad helped to ice the game for the Ducks (10-3, 2-0 Pac-12).
Saturday's game featured 10 lead changes and seven ties. The Bruins led, 44-43, with 13:26 to play in the second half. Oregon connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to secure a 49-44 cushion and never trailed UCLA the rest of the way.
UCLA led 44-43 with 13:26 remaining in the second half. Back-to-back threes from Shelstad pushed the Ducks out to a 49-44 lead they did not relinquish for the rest of the contest. Shelstad scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half, hitting 4-of-5 attempts from three-point distance.
"I told the guys, [if] we take care of the ball and keep our turnovers down, we're going to win," said Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach. "We didn't do that. Once we got in control of the game, we got loose and sloppy with the ball. That cost us the game. The other thing I would tell you is our shot [selection], staying on offense. There were some guys, Lazar in particular, who doesn't usually ever do it. We had a decided advantage in the paint. You can't get the ball in the paint if you're shooting the first ball, the first three every time. Adem, 6-for-7 and Berke, 5-for-7, and Brandon Williams was 3-for-4. Your quick math is 14-for-18. We had to play most of our mobile guys because they were playing so small."
For the game, Oregon shot 10-of-25 from three-point land compared to UCLA's 3-of-19.
Sophomore Adem Bona paced the Bruins (6-7, 1-1 Pac-12) in scoring with 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field. Freshman Berke Buyuktuncel registered a career-high 12 points and junior Lazar Stefanovic finished with 10 points. Buyuktuncel made 5 of 7 shots and was 1-for-2 from 3-point distance.
UCLA cut Oregon's lead down to two points on three occasions in the final eight minutes. Five straight points by Buyuktuncel reduced the Ducks' margin to 51-49, but a 3-pointer by Jadrian Tracey stalled the Bruins' comeback. UCLA climbed back to 55-53, thanks to a jump shot by Buyuktuncel and a layup by Bona, who euro-stepped past his defender. The Ducks scored a flurry of five points on a 30-foot three-pointer by Shelstad, and after intercepting a pass by Bruins' freshman Sebastian Mack, Jermaine Couisnard laid in a wide-open layup.
Oregon took a 33-31 lead into the locker room at halftime on Saturday, after Mack drilled a step-back buzzer-beater for the Bruins at the conclusion of the first half.
Both teams led during the first half, with the opening 20 minutes featuring six ties and six lead changes. Oregon led by as many as four points, at 33-29, with one minute to play in the opening half. The Bruins led 13-12 at the 10:38 mark on a jump shot by Berke Buyuktuncel, late in the shot clock, and kept pace with the Ducks through the first half.
The Bruins will return home next week, hosting Stanford on Wednesday, Jan. 3. Game time in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom is 6 p.m. (PT). UCLA's game against the Cardinal will be nationally televised on ESPN2, with Roxy Bernstein and Sean Farnham on the broadcast team.
UCLA will take on California on Saturday, Jan. 6, at 7 p.m. (PT).
