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Oregon St. (16-7, 7-4) at UCLA (14-10, 6-5) / Pauley Pavilion / 7 PM PST / Pac-12 Channel / KEJO 1240 AM / KEX 1190 AM
UCLA will be looking to avenge the 66-55 loss they suffered at Oregon St. last month at Gill, as well as bounce back from a 64-62 loss at California last Saturday night.
Oregon St. will be looking for their second Pac-12 conference road win of the year, and only their 3rd win this season away from Gill Coliseum, where the Beavers are a school record 14-0 this season, after their 64-50 win over Washington on Sunday. The win also locked up a winning regular season for Oregon St. under first year coach Wayne Tinkle, and was the first time in 25 years the Beavers have recorded wins over Arizona, UCLA, & Washington all in the same season.
The Bruins' Tony Parker, who did not play in the first game against the Beavers, is back in action, and should be a factor, based on his game high 20 points and 7 rebounds in 30 minutes in the game in Berkeley.
The Beavers used the 1-2 punch of 19 points by Malcolm Duvivier and 18 by Gary Payton II, and an especially effective first half defense, which allowed only 19 points, to get the first win over the Bruins.
Payton and Duvivier combined for 31 points in the win over Washington, but it was the return of Langston Morris-Walker to double digit production that made the Beavers' performance more confidence inspiring.
UCLA sets 1 game behind Oregon St., as well as Oregon and Stanford, all logjamed for 3rd place in the Pac-12.
Oregon St. hasn't beat UCLA in LA in 11 years, and have won only 7 of 57 games down south. Overall, UCLA leads the series 90-37. A win would produce the first season sweep of the Bruins by the Beavers in 27 seasons.
UCLA is an 8 1/2 point favorite.
Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com