UCLA Thunders By Oregon, 94-76 : Pacific 10: Bruins hold Ducks to 35.1% shooting, gain 19th victory.

Unable to convert even the simplest of shots at times, Oregon was an easy mark for UCLA Friday in the quarterfinals of the Pacific 10 Conference basketball tournament.

Sitting Ducks?

UCLA won, 94-76, in a turnaround from the last meeting between these teams two weeks ago at Eugene, Ore.

In that game, Oregon made a season-high 65% of its shots and beat the Bruins, 105-99, scoring more points than UCLA had evergiven up to a conference opponent in regulation.

This time, the Ducks shot a season-low 35.1%--including only 23.5% in the first half--and were out of it by halftime.

“You could kick the ball up there and usually hit 23%,” said Oregon Coach Don Monson, who sat slumped in his chair at times in the second half as UCLA increased a 14-point halftime lead to as many as 26 points.

UCLA’s victory was its first in more than a month over a winning team and advanced the Bruins (19-9) to a semifinal game today against Arizona State, an 83-75 upset winner over Oregon State.

Was it a great defensive effort that propelled the Bruins?

Monson described UCLA as overly aggressive, a characterization that has not been made frequently of the sometimes passive Bruins, who were outshot in every game during a five-game losing streak last month.

“I don’t think there’s any question their game plan was to come at us with as many guys and as many fouls as they could possibly gather,” said Monson, whose complaints about the Bruins drew a first-half technical foul. “They were going to crowd our shooters--and bump them and foul them.

“We were having a tough time getting a good, clean shot off. Whether or not they’ve all of a sudden got a great defense, I don’t know.”

Duck guards Terrell Brandon and Kevin Mixon combined for 56 points against UCLA at Oregon’s McArthur Court, making 19 of 28 shots. But they scored only 18 points this time, making seven of 28 shots.

Brandon was especially ineffective, missing his first nine shots and 15 of 20 after being selected Thursday to the all-conference team.

“This is probably the worst game I’ve had in my career,” said Brandon, a former high school player of the year in Oregon. “They did a good defensive job on me, but I got hacked a lot, and the refs didn’t call it.”

The Bruins, of course, saw the game differently.

“We didn’t try to foul them,” UCLA Coach Jim Harrick said. “We wanted to play great defense without fouling. We hadn’t done that lately, but we really like to get into you and pressure the ball.”

Harrick acknowledged that the Bruins’ plan was to wear out the 5-foot-11, 173-pound Brandon, a sophomore.

“We wanted to play him hard and aggressively with two pretty physical guys,” Harrick said, referring to Brandon’s tormentors, 6-3, 185-pound Gerald Madkins and 6-5, 200-pound Mitchell Butler. “And when (his teammates) saw him miss those shots--he’s their heart and soul--it took the starch out of them.”

UCLA took control when the Ducks missed 12 consecutive shots in the first half during a stretch of almost 8 1/2 minutes. The Bruins outscored Oregon, 20-3, to open a 30-15 lead before forward Keith Reynolds, who led the Ducks with 20 points, made a layup to end the drought.

“It’s a lot different shooting at Arizona State than it is in Eugene, where (the Ducks) shoot all year,” said UCLA’s Don MacLean, who led the Bruins with 25 points and 11 rebounds. “In Eugene, their guards took our guards maybe a little bit by surprise. We didn’t know they were that good. Once we realized that, we really got into them today and shut them down.”

Butler played a key role, but for the first time all season, his offensive production overshadowed his defensive contribution.

The freshman from Oakwood High in North Hollywood scored a season-high 16 points, including eight during the Bruins’ first-half run. He also had five assists, five rebounds and three steals in 27 minutes.

“I really looked to score a lot today,” Butler said. “I felt good in warmups and took it upon myself to really play hard.”

Bruin Notes

UCLA made 50% of its shots, with Don MacLean making eight of 13, Mitchell Butler six of 11 and reserve center Keith Owens five of five. Owens matched a career high with 10 points. . . . Trevor Wilson scored 13 points to move past Gail Goodrich and into fifth place on UCLA’s all-time scoring list. Wilson needs 20 points to move past David Greenwood into fourth place.

Richard Lucas, a junior from Anaheim, equaled a tournament record by getting 13 rebounds for Oregon. . . . Only Cal State Fullerton, which made only 31.4% of its shots in an 87-75 loss Dec. 23 at Pauley Pavilion, has shot worse against UCLA this season. Oregon made only 35.7% of its shots in a 79-62 loss to the Bruins Jan. 25 at Pauley Pavilion.

UCLA Coach Jim Harrick, asked if the Bruins had secured a bid to the NCAA tournament: “I don’t think there’s any question now.” . . . UCLA beat Arizona State twice during the regular season, 62-53 at Pauley Pavilion and 80-72 here. . . . Oregon, still hoping to land a bid to the National Invitation Tournament, is 15-13 after losing three in a row. . . . Attendance for the afternoon session was 4,380, but fewer than 3,000 stayed around for most of the UCLA-Oregon game.