University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
Oregon
No. 15 Bruins Keep Rolling, Down Oregon 88-73
February 22, 2001 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 22, 2001
By TARA BURGHART
Associated Press Writer
EUGENE, Ore. - UCLA knew it wouldn't be easy to leave MacArthur Court with a win.
Matt Barnes scored 21 points and Jason Kapono had 20 points and 13 rebounds as No. 15 UCLA held off a second-half comeback by Oregon to beat the Ducks 88-73 Thursday night.
UCLA had lost three of four games in the small, four-story arena nicknamed "The Pit," where jumping student fans try to cause the rims to shake when opponents are shooting free throws.
"No lead is too big at Mac Court," UCLA coach Steve Lavin said. "We were able to withstand that surge and get to the other side."
Dan Gadzuric added 16 points and eight rebounds for the Bruins (18-6, 11-2 Pac-10), who have won 14 of 16 games.
Bryan Bracey led Oregon (13-11, 4-10) with 21 points and 10 rebounds and helped the Ducks rally from 21 points down to get within eight.
UCLA, which took a 45-33 lead into halftime, scored the first six points of the second half and then outscored the Ducks 11-3 to make it 62-41 with 14:56 left to play.
But the Ducks then started a run of their own. Bracey had an acrobatic behind-the-head dunk and James Davis hit a 3-pointer as Oregon closed to 64-56 on a 15-2 run with 11:14 left in the game.
"We weren't in a rhythm on offense and didn't get any easy shots," said UCLA's Earl Watson, who fouled out in the middle of Oregon's run. "It felt like we were all tensed up."
A basket by Ryan Bailey ended a six-minute scoring drought for the Bruins, and Oregon could get no closer than eight the rest of the way.
"We didn't play solid basketball at the beginning," Oregon coach Ernie Kent said. "When we played solid defense, we were able to come back. Even though we broke down at times, and didn't shoot the ball well, we picked it up in the second half."
The Ducks shot 32 percent from the field and were 9-of-34 from the 3-point line, compared to 49 percent shooting for the Bruins.
UCLA outrebounded Oregon 51-44, and 31-20 in the first half.
"That really hurt our transition game," Oregon's Luke Jackson said. "We couldn't get out and run because we weren't getting any rebounds."
Oregon stayed within five points of UCLA in the first 12 minutes until the Bruins went on a 10-2 run to make it 36-23 with 3:55 left in the half.
Kapono scored seven of the Bruins' final nine points in the half as UCLA took a 45-33 lead.
Oregon had trouble handling UCLA's muscular play inside, and the Bruins went to the free throw line 41 times - shooting 59 percent for the game.
Anthony Norwood added 12 points for Oregon, and Chris Christoffersen had a career-high 12 rebounds.
