No. 2 Bruins aim to bounce back against Oregon State (Dec 30, 2016)
UCLA will try to bounce back from its first loss of the season when the second-ranked Bruins visit Oregon State on Friday night at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis, Ore.
UCLA (13-1, 0-1 Pac-12) is coming off a dramatic 89-87 loss to No. 21 Oregon. The Bruins led by one in the waning moments, but Dillon Brooks, the reigning Pac-12 Player of the Year, buried a game-winning 3-pointer with 0.8 seconds remaining, setting off a wild scene at Matthew Knight Arena.
"You hate losing," UCLA center Thomas Welsh said. "This is the first loss of the season for us and that was a tough way to go, but it happens. It's a game and you aren't going to win them all, but it's just about playing the way you want to play and learning from the losses like this."
Oregon State (4-10, 0-1) has lost six of its last seven games, including a 70-63 loss to No. 22 USC on Wednesday. The Beavers have struggled without leading scorer Tres Tinkle, who averaged 20.2 points and 8.3 rebounds over the first six games before suffering a broken wrist. He is expected to return in early January.
The Beavers trailed by 19 early in the second half before battling back to get within six in the final minute, but by then it was too late. After the game, Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle offered a lengthy critique of his team, saying the Beavers are too slow to engage the opposition.
"We kind of came out flat and waited until we got down to show some fight and some intensity, and that's been a little bit of a marker for this group," he said. "We challenged the guys in the locker room. We've got to find some guys to show some leadership out there and get guys fired up.
"It's just been kind of the same old song, and so we challenged our guys that, if it's important, we'll find a way to be more intense, more communicative out there, and become way more selfless. Anybody can show a little bit of fight when it's desperation time. We need guys who are ready to fight coming out of the locker room."
That will be critical against a UCLA squad that is averaging 95 points per game, shooting 54.9 percent from the field and making 42.9 percent from 3-point range. Entering the week, the Bruins were first or second in the nation in scoring, field-goal percentage, total assists, assists per game and assist-to-turnover ratio. They were fifth in 3-point shooting and margin of victory, winning by an average of 21.8 points per game.
Now, for the first time this season, the Bruins are coming off a loss. Senior guard Bryce Alford put it in perspective following the game, saying it could be good news for the Bruins and bad news for the Beavers.
"I think that it's good that we have some adversity," he said. "This team needs some adversity to go through. You never want to lose a game. We had this game. I think we kind of blew it at the end, but we are very confident that we can bounce back in two days and get another win."
