Oregon Men Fall in Los Angeles
12/06/25 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES — Oregon's second-half surge wasn't enough to erase a slow start, and the Ducks fell 74–63 to UCLA on Saturday afternoon at Pauley Pavilion, dropping to 4–5 overall and 0–2 in Big Ten play.
Jackson Shelstad led Oregon with 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including four 3-pointers, and sparked multiple second-half pushes that trimmed a once-18-point deficit to as few as three. Takai Simpkins added 14 points, while Ege Demir and Dezdrick Lindsay battled on the boards to help Oregon win the second-chance scoring column 20–13.
The Ducks trailed by 18 points late in the first half, cutting the halftime deficit to 44-31. Oregon came out strong in the second half and cut the UCLA lead to three early in the half but struggled to pick up key defensive rebounds and stops at the defensive end, leading to a double-digit win for the Bruins.
Oregon finished 19-for-56 (33.9 percent) from the field and 8-for-27 from deep. The Ducks struggled to generate consistent scoring in the paint and committed 17 turnovers, which UCLA converted into 14 points.
How it happened: The Ducks struggled to match UCLA's shot-making in the opening period. The Bruins (7–2, 2–0) shot 56 percent in the first half and hit 6 of their first 8 3-point attempts, building a 44–31 halftime lead behind Eric Dailey Jr.'s 14 early points and Skyy Clark's hot start from deep. Oregon shot 35.7 percent before the break and never recovered from UCLA's decisive 25–14 run midway through the first half.
Oregon mounted their strongest push after halftime. Simpkins opened the period with three straight made free throws, and Shelstad's transition 3 with 16:08 left brought Oregon within 50–45. Lindsay's putback layup and Kobzystyi's corner 3 trimmed the deficit to 57–53 with 12:56 remaining, capping a 12–6 stretch in which the Ducks controlled the boards and forced three UCLA turnovers.
But each time Oregon threatened, the Bruins responded. Xavier Booker's second-chance bucket, followed by Tyler Bilodeau's interior scoring and back-to-back buckets from Donovan Dent, pushed the margin back to eight. Oregon's offense cooled down the stretch, going just 3-for-13 from 3-point range in the second half, failing to catch up to UCLA as time expired.
Notable: Jackson Shelstad eclipsed 1,000 career points in the game. … Simpkins was the only other player to score in double figures with 14 points. … Nate Bittle struggled to find his legs in his first game back after missing two games due to injury, scoring just three points with four rebounds.
Up Next: UO returns home to play UC Davis on Saturday, December 13 at 1 p.m. PT (Big Ten Network).
