Story By Alex Roth

The Oregon Ducks defeated the UCLA Bruins by a score of 96-75 at Matthew Knight Arena on Sunday afternoon. The Ducks played exceptionally well on defense, and used full court pressure to force 23 Bruin turnovers. The Ducks in total compiled 15 steals, with Chris Duarte recording 6 to lead the way defensively. Duarte was also effective on the offensive side of the ball, racking up 24 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. The Ducks other standout performers included Payton Pritchard and Will Richardson, who scored 19 and 16 points respectively. Pritchard, Richardson, and Duarte’s standout performances helped lead the Ducks to their biggest win over UCLA since 1936.

Oregon was able to get out to a huge 48-26 lead at the half, with the Bruins never really being competitive past the opening four minutes of the game. Oregon was able to set the tone early on defense, and was effectively able to stifle the UCLA offense for large portions of time in the first half. The full court press applied by the Ducks was able to confuse the Bruins, and often lead to egregious turnovers or simple mistakes, including a time the Bruins accidentally put six players on the court at once.

The Ducks also had a great afternoon offensively, and were able to score 96 points on 57 percent shooting and 47 percent from three. Will Richardson was able to bounce back from a string of poor shooting games, and put in an efficient performance shooting 62 percent from the field. Chris Duarte shot 57 percent from three, helping Oregon continue to push the lead as they capitalized off of all the UCLA turnovers. The first place Ducks, now winners of three straight, will head to Berkeley to face the California Golden Bears on Thursday.

Audio Story By Jonah Rosenberg

Post-game Audio