Oregon @ UCLA preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 10, 2019 ) UCLA 87, Oregon 84

UCLA’s tumultuous season took yet another turn earlier this week as the Bruins turned in one of their best performances in Thursday’s 68-67 victory over Oregon State. UCLA looks to build on the strong showing Saturday against visiting Oregon, which has dropped to ninth place in the Pac-12 standings following two straight losses.

Freshman center Moses Brown had 14 points and 11 rebounds against Oregon State as UCLA kept its hopes for a first-round bye in next month’s Pac-12 tournament alive. The Bruins bounced back from a 24-point loss to Stanford and moved one game behind fourth-place Utah and USC in the Pac-12 standings with four games to play. “This season has been like a war of attrition,” forward Chris Smith told reporters. “We’ve been down more than we've been up. It really feels good to get a win. Everybody knows in the back of their head we’ve got a lot to do. We've got to get better.” UCLA is aiming for a season sweep of Oregon after mounting a historic comeback in the first meeting on Jan. 10, when the Bruins rallied from a 17-point second-half deficit and escaped with an 87-84 overtime victory.

TV: 10 p.m. ET, ESPN2

ABOUT OREGON (15-11, 6-7 Pac-12): The Ducks need to regroup after shooting 33.3 percent from the field in Thursday’s 66-49 loss to USC. Freshman guard Louis King had 16 points and six rebounds while sophomore Victor Bailey Jr. added 10 points, but the Ducks stumbled against USC’s zone defense and were outscored 30-18 in the paint. Junior point guard Payton Pritchard averages 11.5 points and 4.2 assists but struggled in the first meeting against UCLA and enters Saturday’s contest in a mini-slump after scoring a total of nine points on 3-of-14 shooting in back-to-back losses to Oregon State and USC.

ABOUT UCLA (14-13, 7-7): Interim coach Murry Bartow moved Smith and David Singleton into the starting lineup against Oregon State and the duo responded with a total of 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Singleton took over for junior guard Prince Ali, who averages 9.6 points but missed Thursday’s contest with plantar fasciitis in his left foot and is listed as day-to-day. Sophomore point guard Jaylen Hands has averaged a team-leading 18.6 points in the last five games while shooting 44.4 percent from 3-point range.

TIP-INS

1. UCLA has won the last two meetings against Oregon and holds an 89-36 lead in the series.

2. King had a career-high 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in last month’s loss to the Bruins.

3. UCLA ranks second in the Pac-12 in scoring (77.7) and third in rebounding margin (plus-5.1).

PREDICTION: UCLA 79, Oregon 68