EUGENE – Oregon is back on top of the Pac-12 with one more game left.
Chris Duarte had 23 points, LJ Figueroa had 18 and Eugene Omoruyi and Will Richardson each added 15 for the Ducks, who wiped out a nine-point deficit and closed out a 14-6 run in the final 4:06 at UCLA 82- 74 Wednesday night at Matthew Knight Arena.
Oregon (18-5, 13-4 Pac-12) won its ninth of 10, with seven of the games taking place over the past 14 days, moving a half game ahead of UCLA to first place in the Pac-12 with a game to play.
Jules Bernard scored a career-high 23 points and had four strokes for the Bruins (17-7, 13-5) who play USC on Saturday. UO plays Sunday in Oregon State (17:00, FS1).
Oregon’s five forwards scored all of their 37 points in the first half, but Bernard was able to shoot 7 of 8 off the field for 15 points, which was the primary reason for a 30-12 UCLA lead in the first half. The Bruins shot 60% of the field and led 39-37 until halftime.
“He absolutely killed us,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. ‘He had 15 points on six layups (in the first half). He came to the edge whenever he wanted, he’s physical, but we did not move with our feet. ‘
But the ducks shut Bernard down. The junior made a three-pointer to put UCLA ahead 13:28, but did not score again.
Oregon eliminated a nine-point deficit (60-51) by 11:16 by going 17-6 with seven from Duarte.
“A lot of teams would not have reacted like that,” Altman said. ‘Very proud of the guys. I thought Will Richardson just took over the game and made really good plays, finishing a few things at the basket. Our defense has really sharpened. ”
Altman said the UO players told him they wanted to switch to man-to-man defense and push more down, which made UCLA turn twelve in the second half versus just two in the first half.
“I had them in a mess and I’m going to say, ‘Fellas, we’re not stopping. What do you want? You become accountable; we have to stop, ” Altman said. ‘They wanted to go to the man and convert everything, and they did a great job with it and did the position before the position. Will and Eric (Williams Jr.), LJ, Chris, all hold out pretty well (Cody) Riley’s hands.
“I thought it was a big, big key. The team really bought what they wanted to do and really took it over. ”
Oregon used its pressure on dead balls in the backcourt and its bench was just as energetic as the entire season. When the Bruins got the ball to Riley in the second half, several ducks would swarm and either close him down, forcing a ball or turnover, and that dropped the advantage in the paint to 28-12 UO in the second half.
“We realized they were really attacking certain areas in the zone,” Omoruyi said. “As a joint (we) decided to do our man-to-man defense because we felt it was more effective and the coach allowed us to do it.”
Chandler Lawson gave Figueroa a break to go 10:50, and that changed the top of Oregon’s press and forced UCLA into a series of costly mistakes. The Ducks forced six Bruins turnovers during the 4:46 when Lawson came on.
“We were one step behind them all night until Chandler Lawson gave us a big lift in our press,” Altman said. ‘His energy and he got some balls in his hands, and so long they let a few passes run. When we got bending and turnover, it changed the pace of the game. ”
Omoruyi intercepted a UCLA pass in the backfield and sat from coast to coast for a basket to lead Oregon 64-62 6-4. The Ducks never lagged behind again.
“We knew what they were looking at, and if we stopped something else, what they were looking at,” Omoruyi said. “I did the reading, I got the ball and I finished it.”
Riley, who had 11 points, converted a three-point game and tied it at 68-68 with 4:06 left. Then Oregon ended the game on a 14-6 run with contributions from each of its four majors.
Figueroa comes off the bench after a break of 4:06 and gets a foul by Richardson. Omoruyi rode to the right of the track and turned him into a running jumper to set UO up 72-68.
“I knew they were cutting lanes,” he said. “I could adjust myself and get away, Euro step.”
Duarte drilled a three-pointer to give the Ducks their biggest lead of the game with 2:16 to play.
After two free throws from Tyger Campbell (eight assistants), Richardson hit a jumper in the lane, Duarte blocked Bernard and Richardson hit a try to blow the game open.
The dramatic and intense victory gives Oregon the lead in the conference after a glove of rescheduled games, four of which were decided by four points or less.
Altman attributed this to the team’s toughness.
“They knew what they wanted,” he said. ‘I’m really proud of them, because if we were to give in, we would give one of the games. We were embarrassed about our efforts at USC, but we really fought back, I was really proud of the guys. We were down there, and I said to them, ‘If you think I’ll let you down. Not at all. We’re going to push them. We’re going to try to get it back. ‘Got it up to 10 and a few free throws and got some looks, and we might be able to increase it a bit.
‘Tonight nine points, many teams think I would quit. We are not doing well. We did not have much energy. But a great honor for all the guys, they turned it around. ‘