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Oregon finds a way to pick up needed victory at UCLA (VIDEO)

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When news broke just a couple hours before Thursday’s game that UCLA guards Kyle Anderson and Jordan Adams were suspended one game for a violation of team rules, it seemed to be a formality that Oregon would pick up a much-needed victory. Sure the Bruins still had some talented players available, but to expect UCLA to be a threat after losing its top two scorers seemed to be a bit much.

But that wasn’t the case, with UCLA putting up a greater fight than most expected and Oregon seemingly doing its best to make sure the Bruins hung around. After getting off to a good start offensively the Ducks slowed down in the second half, with UCLA’s 2-3 zone factoring into the issues experienced by Dana Altman’s team. Given the number of quality guards at Altman’s disposal this wasn’t the expectation, but far too often the Ducks failed to attack the middle of the UCLA zone.

And then there were the final seconds of regulation, with the Ducks losing track of David Wear after a Joseph Young free throw with 1.3 seconds remaining. After Young made the shot he was looking to miss Travis Wear fired a strike to his twin brother, with David knocking down the 30-footer as time expired. Oregon would have to work five more minutes of the win, and after the two teams combined to score four points in the first extra session five more.

Ultimately Young (26 points) and Mike Moser (12 points, 20 rebounds and five assists) would lead the Ducks to the 87-83 double overtime win, keeping alive their hopes of getting hot and earning a spot in the NCAA tournament. Oregon was able to win not only because of their outlasting UCLA, but also their advantages in points off turnovers and second-chance points. Oregon converted 11 UCLA turnovers into 18 points (+11 advantage) and rebounded 39.5% of their missed shots, scoring 17 second-chance points (+12).

Of course those are two areas in which Anderson and Adams have been so influential this season, as they’re also UCLA’s top two rebounders and Anderson the leader in assists. Oregon did much of its work in these areas early, leading by as much as 15 early in the second half. But the Ducks’ ability to make things difficult on themselves has been a theme of sorts in the majority of their conference games, and that was once again the case on Thursday night.

However given Oregon’s status as a bubble team it’s the result that matters. Some will look to add an asterisk of sorts to this result given the absence of Anderson and Adams, and while this would be fair it isn’t Oregon’s fault that they were suspended. Regardless of who was on the court for UCLA, Oregon had to get the win regardless of how long it took. And after fifty minutes of basketball, the Ducks accomplished that task.

Follow @raphiellej