UCLA’s three-point shooting deficiencies prove costly in loss to Oregon
It came down to three-point shooting.
Once again, UCLA didn’t have any.
In one of the season’s most bothersome storylines for a young team trying to find its footing, the Bruins continued to watch with envy as the other team made long-range shots they could not counter.
The sequence that symbolized Oregon’s 64-59 victory Saturday afternoon at Matthew Knight Arena came with a little more than four minutes left.
Adem Bona finishes with 13 points and eight rebounds as UCLA snaps its four-game losing streak with a 69-62 win over Oregon State in its Pac-12 opener.
Inbounding with six seconds left on the shot clock, the Ducks got the ball to Jackson Shelstad about 35 feet from the basket. Shelstad quickly rose for a circus shot that fell through the net.
UCLA had no such luck, making just three of 19 shots from beyond the arc (15.8%) on a day the Ducks made 10 of 25 three-pointers (40%).
Even so, the Bruins had a chance to notch a weekend road sweep after Dylan Andrews made a jumper with 32 seconds left to pull UCLA within 60-59. The Ducks beat the Bruins’ full-court press, finding Kwame Evans Jr. underneath the basket for a dunk. That put UCLA in a bad place, needing a three-pointer to tie the score.
Andrews rose from straightaway beyond the arc, his shot going off the side of the rim with 15 seconds left. The Ducks (10-3, 2-0 Pac-12) grabbed the rebound and made two free throws to secure sole possession of first place.
It was another close-but-not-good-enough showing for the Bruins (6-7, 1-1), whose losses all have come by single digits. Committing 16 turnovers against the Ducks only compounded their abysmal shooting.
“I’ll give you a great summary of the game,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said. “Right now, we’re still struggling to play smart.”
Cronin pointed to not getting the ball inside enough on a day that post players Adem Bona, Berke Buyuktuncel and Brandon Williams combined to make 14 of 18 shots. Also infuriating were a five-on-four fast break that ended with Will McClendon missing a three-pointer and Sebastian Mack sparking an Oregon run when he gambled going for a steal and came up empty.
“On a veteran team he’d play about five minutes a game,” Cronin said of Mack, a freshman guard, “but I gotta play him.”
The primary shooting culprits were Andrews (two for 12, including one for seven on threes) and Lazar Stefanovic (four for 14 and 0 for 6, including an airball at the final buzzer). Cronin said he was disappointed in the shot selection of Stefanovic, who has made 28.6% of his three-pointers.
“I took a few shots that I probably should have pump-faked or passed it out,” Stefanovic said. “It’s something that we have to get better at. Our shooting percentage has to get better.”
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How do the Bruins, whose 29.9% on three-pointers puts them on pace for a dubious school record, go about doing that?
“First you’ve got to get in the gym more and shoot more,” Stefanovic said, “and then the more you pass the ball, the better passing team you are, the more open looks you’re going to have.”
Sometimes even that doesn’t help. Stefanovic had one particularly open look with 6½ minutes left when an open McClendon made an extra pass to get his teammate an even better shot. Stefanovic missed.
Meanwhile, the Ducks overcame a five-point deficit early in the second half thanks to a flurry of their own open three-pointers. Shelstad led Oregon with 20 points, making four of seven three-pointers.
“A lot of their threes — I’m going to say five of ‘em — we walked away from the guy, just walked away from him,” Cronin said. “So we’re good enough to win, we’re just not smart enough.”
In the consolation department, Bona logged a second consecutive strong showing with 15 points on six-for-seven shooting to go with 11 rebounds and five blocks. Buyuktuncel added 12 points, making five of seven shots and one of two three-pointers.
Cronin acknowledged squeezing as much as he could out of Bona, a sophomore, given his veteran standing on a team featuring seven freshmen. One of those freshmen, guard Ilane Fibleuil, played only 17 seconds after surrendering a layup and going back to the bench. It’s the sort of thing that only increases pressure on Bona to produce.
“I need him to act like a senior,” Cronin said. “So I’m probably asking him to do some things that I know he’s not ready to do yet, but I really got no choice.”
Williams continued to make a case for a bigger role, grabbing two offensive rebounds in the first half while also sinking a baseline jumper and effectively feeding Bona in the post. But Williams’ five turnovers were the most on the team.
The Ducks were without centers N’Faly Dante (knee) and Nate Bittle (wrist) and forward Mookie Cook (ankle), presenting the Bruins with an opportunity to forge an advantage with their big men. UCLA grabbed four more rebounds than Oregon and outscored the Ducks by 10 in the paint even with 7-foot-3 freshman center Aday Mara not playing while at least momentarily falling out of the rotation.
It wasn’t enough given all their other deficiencies.
“It’s hard,” Stefanovic said. “You fight, you play and you’ve got some lead going in the second half and things start going the other way and you come close again and you don’t win a game. It’s not the first game that we came close and haven’t won it.”
Go beyond the scoreboard
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