Some of the same problems that plagued Oregon over the last couple of weeks reared their ugly head again on Thursday evening in front of a national television audience; turnovers, missed fastbreak opportunities, and stretches without scoring any points.
Fortunately, the Ducks saved themselves with gritty, lockdown defense in winning 68-63 to sweep the season series with UCLA and maintain their position in the top four of the conference.
A back-and-forth first half in which Will Richardson again struggled to find his offensive rhythm still ended with Oregon leading 35-30 thanks to stellar on-ball defense on the perimeter and a block party in the paint as Franck Kepnang swatted three straight shots in the span of about two minutes.