UCLA basketball is a bit of a program in flux right now, as the school fired Steve Alford and there are a number of different opinions on where it should turn in its search to find his replacement. Meanwhile, if you watch what they’re doing on the floor, you’d have no idea this was a program in flux.
The Bruins moved to 3-0 in conference play with an 87-84 win on Thursday night against the Oregon Ducks in Eugene. It took overtime to get the win, but considering where UCLA was with less than a minute remaining, the fact that it was able to get to the extra frame was nothing short of miraculous.
At the 1:01 mark in the second half, Oregon’s Louis King made a bucket to push the Ducks’ lead to 74-65. From there, the Bruins went on a scoring spree, as Jules Bernard hit a three with 47 seconds remaining to spark a 15-6 run to close out the game. The final points were scored on a perfectly executed missed free throw — Jaylen Hands made his first attempt from the stripe with 2.6 seconds left, then bricked the second on purpose. Chris Smith hauled in the rebound and scored a layup to force overtime.
UCLA and Oregon ended up in OT after this intentional missed FT, made basket & missed FT sequence (h/t @BlakeDuDonis) pic.twitter.com/eEaDsNBzyj
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) January 11, 2019
Smith missed the free throw, but UCLA was able to get the job done in the extra five minutes, outscoring the Ducks, 7-4. Junior guard Prince Ali led the Bruins with 22 points, while Hands pitched in 16 and Kris Wilkes added 14. With the win, the team entered rarified air, as only five other teams have ever had as torrid of a comeback down the stretch as they did against Oregon.
UCLA defeats Oregon, 87-84, in OT after trailing by nine with 51 seconds left in regulation.
It's the largest deficit overcome in the final minute of a Pac-12 game, and ties the sixth-largest deficit overcome in the final minute in Div. I history.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 11, 2019
UCLA looked listless with Alford on the bench, even though they always had the talent to win the Pac-12 and make some noise in the NCAA Tournament. Even though the Ducks were without Bol Bol, interim Bruins coach Murry Bartow deserves a ton of credit he’s done since ascending to the head coaching job in Westwood, something that was reinforced with Thursday night’s win.
