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Ducks say so long to sixth after second-half struggle.

Article Excerpt
Byline: Bob Clark The Register-Guard

LOS ANGELES - Well, that settles that.

After keeping sixth place and a bye on the opening night of the Pac-10 tournament alive as a goal with three wins in its previous four games, Oregon now knows that it will play its first game in the league tournament at the Staples Center on March 8 as the seventh seed, opening against the 10th seeded-team.

That was decided in about a 10-minute span of the second half on Sunday at Pauley Pavilion, when 19th-ranked UCLA throttled the Oregon offense on the way to a 70-53 victory that gave the Bruins sole possession of first place in the Pac-10 as 11,643 watched in person, along with a regional television audience.

Because of the loss, the Ducks can do no better than tie USC for sixth in the final standings, and the Trojans hold the edge in the tiebreaker that determines seeding for the conference tournament.

Oregon held the edge on the Bruins until its first 14 possessions of the second half resulted in six points. The Ducks were 2-of-10 from the field during that span, and also committed four turnovers. Even two of the four free throws they attempted bounced out.

From a 28-23 halftime lead, Oregon (7-10 in the Pac-10, 13-16 overall) found itself in a 46-34 deficit.

`They came out and closed down a lot of things,' Oregon's Aaron Brooks said. `They're definitely a good defensive team....

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