Oregon can complete its first four-game, regular-season sweep of the Pac-12 Conference’s Los Angeles schools since the 2015-16 season with Saturday’s visit to UCLA, but the Ducks are up against one of the league’s hottest teams.
The Bruins (10-11, 5-5 Pac-12) beat Oregon State 71-63 on Thursday for their fourth victory in the last five games.
Dylan Andrews and Adem Bona each scored 18 points on Thursday — Andrews with 13 in the second half — while Will McClendon had eight points, all after intermission, and a game-high seven rebounds.
Andrews’ performance came on the heels of a 20-point outing in UCLA’s 65-50 win at rival Southern California on Jan. 27.
“When he plays good, we really play good,” UCLA guard Lazar Stefanovic said of Andrews after Thursday’s game. “He gets us going. Towards the end … it seemed like he scored every point.”
Though Andrews was not responsible for every point down the stretch on Thursday, he scored five consecutively that gave the Bruins breathing room after Oregon State pulled to within one.
With its recent surge, UCLA is part of a logjam of eight teams vying for first place in the conference. Oregon is tied at the top with Arizona, while the Bruins have bounced back from a four-game skid to sit just two games back.
Oregon (15-6, 7-3) is coming off a 78-69 win over USC on Thursday. The win improved the Ducks to 3-0 against the Los Angeles schools after sweeping the meetings at home in December.
Jackson Shelstad, who scored a game-high 20 points on Thursday, scored 20 against the Bruins on Dec. 30.
“I came out tonight and tried to be really aggressive,” Shelstad told the Oregonian on Thursday. “I need to keep playing this way every game. It makes the game easier for us”
The freshman guard is one of three Ducks averaging at least 12.8 points per game, a group that includes Jermaine Couisnard (14.7) and the recently returned N’Faly Dante (14.3).
Dante was sidelined for more than two months with a knee injury and rejoined the lineup on Jan. 13. He finished with 11 points, five boards and two blocked shots on Thursday. –Field Level Media
