Bruins don’t let this big one get away

The UCLA Bruins hadn’t trailed the Oregon Ducks on Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion since the opening minutes. They had shot a blistering 56% from the field in the first half. They played stifling defense. They led by 18 points with 9 1/2 minutes to play.

But then, an uneasy quiet seemed to settle over the sold-out arena. The fans, unusually demonstrative for a Pauley crowd, quieted down.

The Ducks had mounted a charge.

This is a UCLA team that had been burned twice this season, losing to Oregon by two points on an Aaron Brooks shot with 12 seconds to play and collapsing last Sunday, blowing a 17-point lead in the second half to lose to Stanford.

But not this time.

This time, resolve and focus and a fresh burst of Bruins energy pushed them back from the abyss.

This time, UCLA clamped down and sailed to a 69-57 victory that broke their tie with Oregon at the top of the Pacific 10 Conference, leaving the Bruins alone in first at 8-2. The fifth-ranked Bruins are 19-2 overall.

Ninth-ranked Oregon slips to 19-3, 7-3 in conference.

“We didn’t want to happen what happened to us” against Stanford, UCLA guard Darren Collison said. “We huddled up and talked about it. We don’t want that to ever happen again.”

On a night when the Bruins shot 57.1% (28 of 49) from the field and limited the Ducks to 36.8% (21 of 57), Bruins guard Arron Afflalo was a key at both ends of the court.

He led UCLA in scoring with 17 points, making six of 12 shots, including four of six from three-point range.

One of those shots was way beyond the arc; Afflalo connected from about 28 feet out.

But just as important for UCLA was what Afflalo, the Bruins’ defensive stopper, did when the ball was in Oregon’s hands. With help from Collison, Josh Shipp and whoever else was within arm’s length, Afflalo held Brooks to 14 points. Oregon’s star guard, who came into the game averaging 19.1 points, made only five of 13 shots.

Were it not for the fact that he matched Afflalo from the three-point line, also making four of six, Brooks’ point total would have been even lower.

Four Bruins scored in double figures; only two were able to do so for Oregon, the other being Bryce Taylor, who led the Ducks in scoring by matching Afflalo’s 17 points.

When it comes to impressive numbers across the board, however, the big man for UCLA was forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute.

Mbah a Moute, who has struggled at times this season after being named conference freshman of the year last season, had 15 points, 12 rebounds, four blocked shots and four steals as well as two assists.

Thanks in large part to Mbah a Moute, UCLA also beat Oregon on the boards, 32-28.

Mbah a Moute shrugged off his impressive performance.

“I was just out there playing,” he said.

Afflalo wasn’t surprised by Mbah a Moute’s numbers. What he saw before the game clued him in to what was ahead.

“I saw it in Luke’s eyes warming up,” Afflalo said. “I definitely knew somebody had come to play.”

While the Bruins showed plenty of emotion, Oregon Coach Ernie Kent felt his team didn’t show enough.

“The last three or four games we have been flat in the first half,” he said. “In this contest, we came out flat in the second half as well. [UCLA] had a lot of fight. We have to gather ourselves and refocus.”

That’s what the Bruins had vowed to do after Sunday’s crushing loss at Stanford. And, said Afflalo, who better to rebound against than the Ducks?

“We avenged our first loss of the season,” he said. “This game was very important to us. We don’t want to lose to anybody twice.”

steve.springer@latimes.com