UCLA Men's Basketball Goes Cold From Deep, Drops Season Series to Oregon

The Bruins missed their first 15 attempts from long range in the second half and were unable to hold on after taking a late lead.

The 3-ball was not the Bruins friend Thursday night, and the Ducks once again got the better of them as a result.

No. 12 UCLA men's basketball (20-6, 12-5 Pac-12) was upset by Oregon (18-10, 11-6) for the second time this season, dropping the road leg of the season series 68-63 in Eugene. The loss came to be in part because of the Bruins' inability to get anything going from behind the arc, shooting just 4-of-24 from deep for their second-worst 3-point percentage of the season.

UCLA is now 3-5 when it shoots below 29% from deep – not exactly a high bar, and a far cry from the 39.3% they shot through the first 10 games of the season.

Guard Jaylen Clark, coming off a career weekend in which he averaged 19.7 points per game across three home wins, opened things up with a putback dunk and scored the Bruins' first four points Thursday night. Clark and UCLA's defense didn't even allow Oregon to attempt a shot inside the 3-point line for nearly four minutes, and the Bruins led 6-5 to that point.

Clark missed his next three shots, though, as UCLA fell behind 20-12 thanks to Oregon suddenly hitting seven of its next nine attempts plus a couple 3-pointers. Guard Johnny Juzang finally got on the board with a baseline midrange jumper, a second-chance triple and a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to 23-21.

Juzang tried to tighten things up even more on a fast break, but he got fouled and spun to the ground, sliding into the stanchion and eventually limping off the court and down the tunnel.

The Bruins got a couple buckets out of center Myles Johnson, guard Jules Bernard and guard Tyger Campbell to tie things up at 29, only for the Ducks to get a dunk and wide open jumper to go back up by four. Clark and forward Cody Riley had chances to regain control around the rim, but center Franck Kepnang had other ideas, picking up three blocks in the first half alone.

UCLA went into the half down 35-30 after Riley took an extra dribble and had his buzzer-beating jumper waved off.

Outside of a stretch of four-straight makes a few minutes into the second half, Oregon struggled to get shots to go. The Ducks strung together a 1-of-15 stretch surrounding the 13-4 run that put them up.

That run, however, helped them bury the Bruins in a 13-point hole. Even though UCLA's defense once again didn't allow a make inside the arc for nearly X minutes, their offense opened the second half 5-of-18 and was unable to take advantage of Oregon's cold streak.

The biggest gap in the Bruins' game was an inability to get anything going on the perimeter, missing their first 12 3-point attempts of the second half.

As it turned out, they didn't need those 3s in order to successfully stage a comeback.

A midrange jumper by guard/forward Peyton Watson, a layup by guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. and a cutting layup by Watson made it a one-score game. UCLA then continued to pester Oregon on inbounds and in the halfcourt, forcing a bad pass that Campbell chased down and laid in to get the gap to one.

Riley fed Jaquez in the post, and he eventually got a second-chance layup to put the Bruins ahead. They didn't even attempt a 3-pointer during that 12-1 run, and they still managed to dig themselves out of a ditch and vault back ahead regardless.

UCLA's next two shots were 3s, both of which they missed, letting Oregon go back up by five after four free throws on the other end. Riley made it a three-point game again with an and-1, only for De'vion Harmon to drill a 3-pointer and Jacob Young to drive and hit a layup over Campbell.

Bernard and guard/forward Jake Kyman each missed 3-pointers, then the Ducks broke the Bruins' press en route to an emphatic alley-oop slam. Singleton finally got a 3 to go for UCLA with 47 seconds to go, but he missed his next try and turned it over as the game finally slipped away for good.

Riley's 3-pointer was just window dressing, and Singleton bricked one off the backboard in one final attempt to make the score look closer.

Campbell and Riley co-led the Bruins with 12 points apiece, while Jaquez finished with 10 to go along with five boards and three steals before he fouled out.

UCLA has two games left on the weekend road trip, starting with a visit to Oregon State on Saturday followed by a game against Washington on Monday. The Bruins are 1-4 in their last five road contests.

Follow Connon on Twitter at @SamConnon
Follow All Bruins on Twitter at @SI_AllBruins
Like All Bruins on Facebook at @SI.AllBruins
Subscribe to All Bruins on YouTube

Read more UCLA stories: UCLA Bruins on Sports Illustrated
Read more UCLA men's basketball stories: UCLA Men's Basketball on Sports Illustrated