Tournament Run Ends In Semis

Friday, March 10

Las Vegas, NV

6:00 PM

University of Oregon

19-14,12-8Pac-12

UCLA

29-4,18-2Pac-12

Oregon

UCLA

Photo by: Aimee Sinacola/GoDucks.com

03/10/23 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Oregon was hanging with top-seeded UCLA until the Bruins took over down the stretch Friday in Las Vegas.

By: Rob Moseley

LAS VEGAS — Oregon was going toe-to-toe with top-seeded UCLA in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals Friday until Bruins senior guard Tyger Campbell took over in the second half, and the Ducks ultimately saw the game get away from them down the stretch in a 75-56 loss at T-Mobile Arena.

A putback by Quincy Guerrier had the Ducks within 46-43 midway through the second half, with the UO men winning the battle of the boards and holding the Bruins to one field goal in their previous seven shots. But Campbell ended that shooting funk by making jumpers on four straight possessions, two of them three-pointers. That outburst got UCLA's lead to 11 at 57-46, and the Ducks never got closer than seven the rest of the way.

"Tyger got it going and we did a poor job of adjusting on him," UO coach Dana Altman said. "He really got it going there and we just didn't stop him. He created a lot of shots for himself and did a really good job one-on-one."

Guerrier and Will Richardson scored 10 points each to lead Oregon, which had seven players score between five and 10 points. But none made more than four field goals and the Ducks were 3-of-19 from three-point range, as Oregon never could consistently generate offensive runs.

"We didn't hit any threes; we needed to hit a few of the open ones we had," Altman said. "I thought that really hurt us. They went 9-of-19 and we went 3-of-19. That's been a problem for us all year and really was a problem today. We had some really good looks and just didn't hit them."

How It Happened: Richardson had an encouraging start with five early points, including a three-pointer that tied the game, 7-7. Jermaine Couisnard scored twice off UCLA turnovers early in the first half, the second putting Oregon up, 12-10. But the Bruins turned it over just three more times the rest of the game — the fifth a purposeful shot-clock violation in the waning seconds of the second half — and they hit four straight shots to take an 18-16 lead midway through the first half.

Kel'el Ware scored on consecutive trips later in the first half, the second bucket a follow dunk of a UO miss that tied it, 24-24. UCLA rallied back into the lead, but Richardson scored to close the half with the Ducks trailing just 32-30.

N'Faly Dante didn't have a field goal at that point, but that changed early in the second half with a bucket for a 33-32 lead. UCLA then made five straights shots, a run broken up only by a three-pointer from Nate Bittle as the Ducks fell behind 44-36. A three from Guerrier and a dunk by Dante got it back to 44-41, but Oregon didn't make another three the rest of the way, and Campbell got hot to turn a 48-44 UCLA lead into a 57-46 lead.

The Bruins continued to pull away down the stretch, as the Ducks missed their last eight three-point attempts of the night.

Notable: Dante played 24 minutes and had eight points and 10 rebounds one night after suffering an ankle injury late in Oregon's quarterfinal win over Washington State. … Young bigs Bittle and Ware for the second night in a row made some significant contributions in the opportunities they got, combining for 15 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. … The Ducks made as few as three three-pointers for the fifth time this season.

Quotable:
UO coach Dana Altman on trying to generate offense with Dante limited
"He was bothered a little bit by that ankle, wasn't quite himself. So we didn't have the inside-out we've had. But of the 19 threes, 16, 17 of them weren't bad looks."

Sophomore Nate Bittle on potentially playing in the NIT rather than the NCAA Tournament
"It's not how we wanted to finish it up. But it's a great opportunity for us to come out and just compete more and play more. It's a great opportunity for us to improve our own games."

Up Next: The Ducks will await word of their postseason fate on Selection Sunday.