EUGENE, Ore. — Freshman Kevin Love returned to his home state and had 26 points and 18 rebounds to lead No. 8 UCLA to an 80-75 victory over Oregon on Thursday night.
The Ducks (12-7, 3-4 Pac-10) led by as many as seven points in the second half, but the Bruins (17-2, 5-1) kept coming back. After Bryce Taylor’s 3-pointer put Oregon ahead 69-64 with 4:38 to play, Russell Westbrook answered with a 3-pointer for UCLA.
Maarty Leunen made two free throws for Oregon before UCLA’s Nikola Dragovic hit a 3-pointer to pull within 71-70, and the Bruins retook the lead on a layup by Westbrook.
Darren Collison made two free throws, extending UCLA’s lead to 74-71 with 1:04 left and the Ducks were unable to catch up.
Collison had a career-high 22 points for the Bruins, who were coming off a 72-63 home loss to Southern California.
Malik Hairston led the Ducks with 18 points, but he went to the locker room for about seven minutes in the second half with leg cramps before returning to the court. Leunen had 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Last season, Oregon handed then-No. 1 UCLA its first loss of the season, 68-66 in Eugene.
Love jilted his home state for the storied tradition of UCLA, turning his back on the school his father, Stan Love, played for. The elder Love starred for the Ducks as an all-conference player in 1970 and ‘72.
The younger Love attended games at McArthur Court since second grade. If UCLA was visiting, he rooted for the Bruins while his father cheered for the Ducks.
At Mac Court on Wednesday night, Love was booed loudly by the student section, known as the Pit Crew. One of the nicer signs displayed simply said: “Kevin Love Sellout.”
USC 68, Oregon State 44: At Corvallis, Ore., O.J. Mayo had 19 points, Davon Jefferson added 18 and USC spoiled Kevin Mouton’s coaching debut with a win over Oregon State.
Taj Gibson added 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Trojans (12-6, 3-3 Pacific-10).
Lathan Wallace led Oregon State with 11 points, and was the only Beaver in double figures.
Fresh off the firing of coach Jay John, Oregon State (6-13, 0-7) set season lows in points, second-half points (19) and shooting percentage (27.7 percent).
Mouton took over the job Sunday night and immediately dismissed center C.J. Giles from the team. He made another statement Thursday, choosing not to start Marcel Jones — the team’s second-leading scorer and only senior. Jones came off the bench to score five points on 1-of-11 shooting.
USC: Southern California coach Tim Floyd has taken the blame for a possible NCAA rules violation by freshman standout O.J. Mayo.
Mayo accepted free tickets to Monday night’s game between Denver and the Los Angeles Lakers from Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony, and attended after telling his coach of the situation.
“O.J. asked me if he could go to the game,” Floyd said before the Trojans left for a two-game road trip that began Thursday night at Oregon State. “I asked him where he was getting the ticket, and he said, ‘Carmelo.’ I said, ‘How long have you known him?’ He said ‘Since seventh grade.’ I said, ‘Sure, he’s a friend.”’
Mayo, averaging a team-leading 19.7 points, told reporters Tuesday he had received the tickets, which were located behind courtside seats near midcourt at Staples Center and had a face value of $230 each.
“It’s a secondary violation. It’s one of ignorance on my part if it was a mistake,” Floyd said. “I’ll take the responsibility because I told the kid he could go to the game. I assumed he could go to the game. If they want to suspend me for a game, suspend me for a game, but not the kid. He did the right thing.”
After Thursday’s game, Mayo declined to discuss the situation.
Floyd said Mayo’s situation wasn’t a big deal.
“(I’m sure that) guys at Washington have never been given a ticket to a game by a friend, that guys in the Bay Area have never been given a ticket to go to a game by a friend. UCLA players have never been given a ticket by Jordan Farmar, who’s a friend, to go to a game, that guys at Arizona State have never watched a Suns game at home,” he said.
Floyd said Mayo didn’t have to speak to the school’s NCAA compliance officer before making the decision to play. Floyd refused to elaborate: “I’ll tell you what I want you to hear.”
NCAA bylaw 16.11.2.2.3 states that student-athletes may not receive “free or reduced-cost admission to professional athletics contests from professional sports organizations, unless such services also are available to the student body in general.”
The NCAA could consider Anthony a friend who gave Mayo the tickets rather than a representative of the Nuggets, perhaps making the matter legal by NCAA standards.
Mayo also acknowledged he attended a Clippers game against Cleveland in November. Freshman USC guard James Dunleavy said he took Mayo as his guest. Dunleavy’s father, Mike, is the Clippers’ coach. The younger Dunleavy said USC assistant Bob Cantu told him he could take any of his teammates to a Clippers game once a semester.
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