The UCLA men’s basketball team came in riding a four-game winning streak and looked to complete a season sweep over the No. 16 Oregon Ducks in Westwood.
Eric Dailey Jr. was nearly perfect from the floor, scoring an efficient 21 points on 8-of-9 attempts. His performance helped lift UCLA to its fifth win in a row while earning a 78-52 victory over Oregon on Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion.
The Bruins (16-6, 7-4 Big Ten) captured their fourth win over a ranked opponent on the season, while the Ducks (16-5, 5-5) dropped their second game in a row.
“Obviously, we jumped on them early, I thought that was the key. We came out of the gate being highly efficient on offense,” said UCLA coach Mick Cronin. “I’m sure Coach Altman would say that’s not their best game…But I’m very proud of our guys for this last stretch of games. It’s been a long grind for us since December, since we started in the Big Ten.”
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UCLA shot 11 of 23 from three-point range. Dylan Andrews and Tyler Bilodeau scored 15 points apiece. The trio of Andrews, Dailey Jr., and Bilodeau combined to make nine threes.
“I’ve been doing the same thing before the games and my teammates trust me to make certain shots,” said Dailey Jr. “The fans were there, it was good having the crowd, and that really gets the energy going. When crowds involved, the shots go in. I just think it’s my teammates finding me and trusting me to hit the shots, that’s really it.”
Nate Bittle led Oregon with 13 points, Keeshawn Barthelemy had 12 points and TJ Bamba added 11 points. The Ducks committed 13 turnovers and never led in the game.
“We just have to play better, even on the defensive end. We just didn’t get it done tonight,” said Oregon coach Dana Altman.
The Bruins led 21-12 after an Aday Mara dunk and Dailey Jr. jumper with 11:57 left in the first half. The Ducks got within three after Bittle and Barthelemy made back-to-back three-pointers. UCLA went on to close the first half on a 19-8 run to take a 40-26 lead at halftime.
Oregon got within 10 points, after Bamba made a pair of free throws with 12:20 left in the second half.
However, that was as close as the Ducks would get as the Bruins used a 22-4 run to stretch their lead to a commanding 72-44 advantage with 4:37 remaining.
Dailey Jr. scored 10 points during the run, where he had a breakaway dunk and drained two three-pointers.
“Eric Dailey is pretty dominant,” said Cronin. “Eric Dailey spends more time in the gym on his shooting and is the most dedicated guy I’ve ever coached on his diet, his rest, his commitment to what he’s trying to accomplish in basketball. And it pays off for him. It doesn’t surprise me when I see him do this because I’ve watched him do this since he moved to L.A. last May, a month early, before summer school, and was in the gym two hours a day. He was as good as you can be offensively.”
UCLA certainly has responded in a huge way after dropping its first four games in the Big Ten and are now on a five-game winning streak.
“Slowly but surely, with each game, we are getting better. I think we are going to peak at the right time,” said Dailey Jr.
The Bruins will next host the No. 7 Michigan State Spartans (18-2, 9-0 Big Ten) on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.
