UCLA
8-1,2-0Big Ten
Oregon
9-1,1-1Big Ten
Andrews' Game-Winner Propels UCLA Past No. 12 Oregon, 73-71
December 08, 2024 | Men's Basketball
EUGENE, Ore. – The UCLA men's basketball team earned its first Big Ten road win in school history, 73-71, courtesy of a last-second Dylan Andrews three-pointer over No. 12 Oregon on Sunday afternoon inside Matthew Knight Arena.
UCLA (8-1, 2-0 Big Ten) trailed by one point, 71-70, with 6.4 seconds remaining. Sebastian Mack inbounded the ball to Andrews, who dribbled around a screen set by Tyler Bilodeau and cut toward Oregon's Nate Bittle at the top of the 3-point line. Andrews faked a drive towards the hoop before stepping back and banking in a 3-pointer to push UCLA ahead 73-71, with 0.4 seconds left.
The Ducks' final attempt on a full-court heave fell short, and the Bruins ran out of the arena as 73-71 winners on Sunday evening at Oregon (9-1, 1-1 Big Ten). UCLA secured its fifth win over Oregon in the last seven meetings between the two teams.
The Bruins secured their seventh straight win of the season and notched their first win over a ranked team (AP poll) since March of 2023. Eric Dailey Jr. scored a season-high 19 points as one of four UCLA players to have scored in double figures. Kobe Johnson finished with 11 points, while Andrews and Mack each had 10 points.
Bittle finished the game with a team-leading 22 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals for Oregon.
Providing a huge spark in the second half, Dailey Jr. finished with a team-high and personal season-best 19 points. The 6-foot-8 forward scored 16 of his 19 points after halftime, shooting 6-for-6 from the field in the second half (and 2-for-2 from 3-point range). Dailey finished having shot 3-for-4 from beyond the 3-point arc, the most 3-pointers he has hit in a game all season.
The Bruins hit multiple clutch 3-pointers in the second half. UCLA buried a season-best 12 shots from 3-point range (12-for-23) and finished 7-for-12 from long-range in the second half on Sunday.
"I thought we played great for a long time," said Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach. "First road game as a group, and I thought we played really well for a long period of time. We have work to do with our late-game defense – we didn't turn the ball over one time against their press. I told them if we do that we were going to have a chance to win."
UCLA led 62-58 with five minutes remaining when Dailey Jr. corralled an offensive rebound and scored to give the Bruins a six-point cushion, at 64-58.
The Bruins held a two-point advantage, 68-66, with 1:48 left in regulation when Mack picked up the ball behind the 3-point line. The sophomore drove to the cup and made the driving layup, putting the Bruins up 70-66.
Oregon trailed by a 70-68 margin, and sophomore Jackson Shelstad hit a 3-point basket with 10 seconds to play, giving the Ducks a 71-70 lead. On UCLA's final possession, Andrews hit the game-winning shot with just 0.4 seconds to play.
Dailey Jr. took over the game in the second half, scoring 16 points, with 10 of those coming in a five-minute stretch midway through the half to put the Bruins up 55-52 with 8:37 left in the game.
With 14:11 remaining in the second half Dailey Jr. hit his second triple of the half, putting the Bruins up 44-43. That helps to spark a 10-2 UCLA scoring run. During that run, Johnson hit his second 3-pointer of the game, Bilodeau finished at the rim with an emphatic dunk, and Dailey Jr. hit a fade-away jumper to put UCLA up, 51-45, with just under 13 minutes to go.
Dailey Jr. connected from deep to tie the game, 36-36, at the start of the second half to kickstart his strong performance.
The Ducks led UCLA at halftime, 34-33.
Oregon took its first lead of the game with 2:19 left in the first half, as Bittle hit a 3-point to put the Ducks ahead, 32-29.
The Bruins extended their lead to 27-19 with 8:26 remaining when Andrews hit a mid-range jumper. However, UCLA struggled to score for the next four minutes before Aday Mara connected down low to put UCLA up 29-26 with 3:46 to go in the first half.
UCLA opened the game strongly from behind the arc, converting four of their first seven from distance, capped off by Eric Dailey Jr. scoring from the wing, giving UCLA a 14-8 lead.
Johnson had five quick points for the Bruins to put UCLA up 5-0, early on.
UCLA will play Arizona in Phoenix (at Footprint Center) on Saturday, Dec. 14. Tipoff is set for 12 p.m. PT (1 p.m. MT, in Phoenix). Following that game, the Bruins will return home to host Prairie View A&M inside Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom on Tuesday, Dec. 17. Game time is 6:30 p.m. PT.
