Good, Bad, Ugly of UCLA’s Rematch Victory Over Oregon

The Bruins would take down the Ducks in a convincing fashion winning 73-57, extending their winning streak to three.

UCLA has really started to gain some momentum before its toughest stretch of the season, where it will have to face off against four ranked teams. UCLA's next game will be against a very scary Indiana team, which, while not ranked, could derail the season.

The Good | Defensive Efforts

Overall, a very good effort for the Bruins in this one. It has now been three games in a row where the Bruins have allowed under 70-points. If they can keep this up there is a very good chance they are able to takedown some of the other strong teams remaining on their schedule.

Xavier Booker has been a huge reason for this uptick. His physicality forced Oregon to take more three-pointers than they hoped to. Overall, the Ducks shot 9-of-32 from the arc, which was easily the biggest factor in Wednesday's win.

The Bad | Guard Minutes

With Skyy Clark now missing his seventh game in a row, the minutes for both Trent Perry and Donovan Dent are adding up. These minutes are really starting to show, with both guards struggling to maintain their productivity. Dent had 15 points on 6-17 shooting, and Perry had 12 points, all in the second half.

While UCLA does have Eric Freeny on the bench, it is clear that Cronin does not trust him to play significant minutes in either guard's role. If this continues, the Bruins might be out of gas before the tournament even starts. Clark needs to come back soon.

The Ugly | Shooting

UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau goes up over Oregon forward Luke Johnson as the Oregon Ducks host the UCLA Bruins on Jan. 28, 2026, at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Oregon. | Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

UCLA's shooting was off the mark in this one. Without a strong defensive performance the Bruins would have been in really bad shape, especially if the Ducks had their leading scorers in this one. A lot of these issues can be attributed to fatigue, still this is not sustainable basketball.

UCLA was only able to muster 39.7% from the field in this one, not a winning mark against teams like upcoming Indiana or even No. 3 Michigan. If UCLA can figure out this cold spell that carried on from the second half of Northwestern they should look ok to finish the season.

Jan 20, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach Mick Cronin reacts toward officials after not getting a foul call in the first half against the Purdue Boilermakers at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

While a good win overall, UCLA still has a few things that they need to hammer down on before the season come to an end. Still, this remains one of their better wins from the Big Ten this season.

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