EUGENE, Ore. – The rivalry that once generated a Lonzo Ball step-back 30-footer and a Dillon Brooks buzzer-beater produced something almost as compelling Saturday night.
Oregon appeared to be on the way to administering a smackdown of UCLA at Matthew Knight Arena when the Bruins delivered their own powerful counterpunch.
UCLA nearly came all the way back from an 18-point deficit in the second half, having an opportunity to tie the score in the final minute as the Ducks staggered.
But UCLA center Thomas Welsh missed a three-pointer with 46 seconds left and the Ducks continually fouled the Bruins over the balance of a 94-91 triumph that ended with Aaron Holiday's halfcourt heave being off the mark at the buzzer.
Oregon twice fouled UCLA before that desperation shot to ensure the Bruins couldn't get a chance to tie it. UCLA's Alex Olesinski and Holiday each made the two free throws they were awarded, but Oregon's Payton Pritchard countered with four free throws of his own to help the Ducks prevail in a battle of teams with flickering NCAA tournament hopes.
UCLA's Kris Wilkes scored 16 of his 21 points in the second half and made two steals to help spark the comeback.
The Bruins (13-7 overall, 4-4 Pac-12 Conference) nearly withstood a relatively quiet game from the foul-plagued Holiday, who finished with 14 points and five assists in 30 minutes after playing the entire second half.
Pritchard scored 25 points for the Ducks (13-7, 3-4), who committed all eight of their turnovers in the second half.
These teams were expected to experience a dropoff but not a free fall after losing a combined six players to the NBA draft last summer.
UCLA was picked to finish third in the Pac-12 and Oregon fourth in the conference's preseason media poll; the Bruins entered Saturday tied with Colorado for fourth and the Ducks were tied with Arizona State for ninth.
UCLA has had trouble solving zone defenses, finding cohesiveness on offense and finishing games.
One UCLA fan started a "Go ducks!" thread on a Bruins message board Saturday morning, implying that short-term setbacks would help trigger a coaching change.
Oregon students had another Bruins sore spot on their mind, wielding signs poking fun at the three UCLA freshmen who were suspended for shoplifting in China in November. One student held up a sign with a mugshot of the departed LiAngelo Ball with a caption reading "Wanted! Last Seen in Lithuania." Another student's sign read "@UCLA I can't find my LV sunglasses," referring to the Louis Vuitton store from which the players stole.
Oregon's struggles before Saturday had somewhat mirrored UCLA's, the Ducks being beset by inconsistency and losing leads in the final minutes of recent losses to Arizona and USC.
The teams couldn't have looked more dissimilar in the first half of their initial meeting of the season. Oregon played with energy, crispness and focus while UCLA was disjointed on offense and applied a casual approach on defense as the Ducks continually got easy baskets on the way to 24 first-half points in the paint.
Things went sideways less than five minutes into the game for the Bruins when Holiday was called for charging and then a dead-ball technical foul after some shoving that also involved the Ducks' Elijah Brown, who was assessed an offsetting technical foul.
Holiday picked up his third foul with 8:24 left in the half and went to the bench until halftime after having scored one point in 10 minutes.