Hoping to become whole again soon, UCLA will step out for a brief appearance on the road when it faces Oregon on Wednesday in a Big Ten Conference game at Eugene, Ore.
Without starting guard Skyy Clark, the Bruins (14-6, 6-3 Big Ten) have won four of their past five games, including victories over then-No. 4 Purdue and Northwestern, both at home last week. Those two victories opened a run where five of six games are at home.
Clark last played Jan. 3 at Iowa as he deals with a hamstring injury. His absence for six games has not only left his 13.5 points per game and 48.6% shooting from 3-point range out of the mix, it has also deprived the Bruins of their best backcourt defender.
“That we’re winning games in this conference without Skyy Clark says something,” UCLA head coach Mick Cronin said. “Nobody wants to be back more than him. … We’re trying to hold down the fort until we can get him back.”
Without Clark on the floor, Trent Perry has moved into a starting guard spot and averaged 16.2 points over the past six games, including a career-high 30 points at Penn State on Jan. 14.
Tyler Bilodeau and Perry each scored 18 points as the Bruins earned a 71-64 victory over Northwestern on Saturday. Bilodeau leads UCLA in averaging 18.2 points over 18 games.
Oregon (8-12, 1-8) is now on a six-game conference losing streak after a 72-57 loss at Washington on Sunday. Sean Stewart scored 15 points and Kwame Evans Jr. had 11, while the Ducks were outrebounded 45-23 and gave up 18 offensive rebounds.
“Their two big guys had more rebounds than our team,” Ducks head coach Dana Altman said. “We knew it would be a problem coming in. We didn’t anticipate it being that big of a problem.”
Oregon leading scorer Nate Bittle (16.3 points) has missed the past three games with an ankle injury and second-leading scorer Jackson Shelstad (15.6 points) has not played since Dec. 28 because of a hand injury. Both are expected to be out Wednesday.
Oregon is 12th in the Big Ten at 33.1% from 3-point range and was even worse against Washington while at 20% (3 of 15).
UCLA earned a 74-63 home victory over Oregon on Dec. 6 as Eric Dailey Jr. scored 18 points for the Bruins. Shelstad led the Ducks with 20 points.
–Field Level Media
