UCLA
10-6, 3-0
Oregon
9-6, 0-2
UCLA Secures Historic Comeback Win at Oregon
January 10, 2019 | Men's Basketball
EUGENE, Ore. โ Down by nine points in the final minute of regulation on Thursday, UCLA staged an incredible comeback to win in overtime at Oregon, 87-84, in a nationally-televised Pac-12 showdown.
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UCLA improved to 3-0 in Pac-12 play, overcoming a 74-65 deficit with fewer than 58 seconds to play before 10,105 at Oregon's Matthew Knight Arena.
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In fact, UCLA (10-6, 3-0 Pac-12) trailed by 17 points with 6:35 to play and was down by as many as 13 points with just 2:35 remaining. The Bruins registered the largest comeback in the game's final minute in the history of the Pac-12 (trailing nine points with 58 seconds to go).
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Five Bruins scored in double figures, as Prince Ali scored a team-leading 22 points. Jalen Hill logged his first career double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds). Moses Brown also had a double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds), while Jaylen Hands registered 16 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
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Kris Wilkes scored in double figures for the 16th consecutive game, finishing with 14 points and seven rebounds in the win at Oregon (9-6, 0-2 Pac-12).
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"It was one play after another by all of our guys," UCLA interim head coach Murry Bartow said. "When you kind of steal one like that, which is kind of what you do when you're down 14 with four [minutes] to play, those can really give you some momentum, when you kind of feel like you stole one."
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The Bruins' historic rally began with a 3-pointer from Jules Bernard at the 50-second mark, trimming Oregon's cushion to 74-68. After a pair of free throws by Oregon's Payton Pritchard, Hands buried a 3-pointer to trim the Ducks' advantage to 76-71.
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Trailing by five points with under 35 seconds to go, Ali was fouled attempting a 3-point basket and sank all three free throw attempts. That pulled UCLA to within two points โ 76-74 โ with 33 seconds left.
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Oregon's Victor Bailey Jr. made two free throws with 22 seconds left, before Ali answered with a corner 3-pointer at the 5-second mark. UCLA trailed 78-77 as Oregon's Pritchard returned to the free throw line. The Ducks' point guard made two free throws, pushing Oregon's advantage to 80-77.
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UCLA had one final possession, at which point Hands was fouled bring in the ball up the court. He made the first free throw to reduce Oregon's lead to 80-78 before missing the second attempt. Chris Smith corralled the loose ball under the hoop with under two seconds to play, hit a layup off the backboard to tie the game (80-80) and was fouled.
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Smith missed the free throw attempt with 0.7 seconds to play, sending the game into overtime.
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In the overtime session, Oregon raced to an 84-80 lead with 3:02 to play. From that point, UCLA outscored the Ducks by a 7-0 margin and held on for the three-point victory.
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Oregon led the Bruins throughout the game, using a 16-1 scoring run late in the first half to enter the locker room at the intermission ahead, 39-32. After UCLA had made 10 of its first 12 field goal attempts, the Bruins managed to make just three of their final 15 attempts before the intermission.
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The Ducks capitalized on nine steals in the first half against UCLA, turning the Bruins' turnovers into 19 first-half points.
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Wilkes nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer before halftime, helping to close what had been an 11-point first-half deficit to just seven points (39-32).
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Thursday's win marked UCLA's first victory against Oregon at Matthew Knight Arena since Jan. 30, 2014. In that Pac-12 contest five years ago, UCLA forward Travis Wear made a putback with just 5.3 seconds to play in regulation, lifting the Bruins past the Ducks 70-68.
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UCLA has opened its Pac-12 schedule with three consecutive wins for the first time since 2012-13, when the Bruins began their league slate with a 5-0 mark.
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UCLA will return to action on Sunday evening at Oregon State. Game time at OSU's Gill Coliseum is slated for 7:10 p.m. (PT). UCLA's game in Corvallis, Ore., will be nationally televised on FS1.
