How To Watch, Game Preview and Game Thread: Oregon Ducks at UCLA Bruins
The Bruins return home for their first conference home game of the season against the Oregon Ducks.
After being outscored 13-4 by Washington, and nearly blowing an 11-point lead, in the final three minutes of the game on Wednesday, the UCLA men’s basketball team returns home for an afternoon game against the 4-4 Oregon Ducks.
After starting the season with four straight wins, the Ducks’ have struggled by losing four straight. The streak began with an 84-73 loss to Auburn in the Players’ Era Festival in Las Vegas, and it continued all last week as they followed that up with a 97-80 loss to San Diego State and a 76-66 loss to Creighton on Thanksgiving Day.
Things didn’t get any better for Oregon when the Ducks returned home on Tuesday to face Southern Cal. The Trojans beat Oregon 82-77 for their fourth straight loss.
So, now, Dana Altman’s team comes to Pauley Pavilion with something to prove. Altman’s teams have always played the Bruins tough, wherever the game is played. I expect the same to happen again today.
Let’s look at Altman’s probable starting lineup.
Oregon Starting Five
If Tuesday’s game against Southern Cal is any indication, Altman will start a traditional lineup consisting for two guards, two forwards and a center.
The good news is that Oregon may be without starting center Nate Bittle. The senior leads the Ducks in both scoring, rebounding and blocks with an average of 16.3 ppg, 7.8 rpg and 14 blocks. He twisted his ankle against San Diego State and he has missed both the Creighton and Southern Cal games.
Assuming he can’t play, look for Altman to start junior Sean Stewart. There’s a significant drop-off when the Ducks switch from Bittle to Stewart. Part of that is because, at 6’9”, Stewart is three inches shorter than Bittle. He is averaging just 7.3 ppg and 5.1 rpg and he has only blocked five shots this season. For that matter, he is listed on the roster as a forward rather than a center. So, he’s may be asked to do things he might not normally do. Regardless, that nine-point difference in scoring could prove to be the difference if Bittle can’t play.
Without Bittle on the floor, the top scorer for the Ducks will be junior guard Jackson Shelstad. who is averaging 15.3 ppg. Shelstad leads the team in assists with 36 and he’s second in steals with eight. His 62 three-point attempts leads the team, though he’s made just 18 of them, giving him a three-point percentage of just 29.0%. UCLA will need to keep him from killing them from the outside. If he gets hot out there, he could make up for Bittle’s potential absence.
The other starting guard will be Takai Simpkins. The senior who transferred to Oregon this year from Elon is averaging 12.9 ppg. Of the Ducks who have tried at least ten three-pointers, he’s the most deadly. His three-point percentage is 40.8%, having made 20 of 49 attempts. He leads the team with nine steals.
Without Bittle, junior forward Kwame Evans will probably be the Ducks’ biggest rebounder. He’s second on the team in boards with an average of 7.1 per game while also contributing 12.6 ppg. He is also second in blocks with nine and in assists with 18. While he is tied for third on the team in field goal attempts with 60, he is tied with both Stewart and Devon Pryor for the best shooting percentage on the team with 50.0%.
Speaking of Pryor, he completes the starting five as the second starting forward. Pryor isn’t much of a scoring threat. He’s only averaging 4.9 ppg, despite his high shooting percentage. In fact, he also has the highest three-point percentage on the team at 44.4%, but he’s only attempt nine from behind the arc.
Senior forward Dezdrick Lindsay will likely see the most playing time off the bench. He’s averaging 19.7 minutes per game and 4.8 ppg. Sophomore guard Wei Lin is also seeing significant playing time. He’s averaging more than 10 minutes per game and 2.9 ppg.
Analysis
How this game turns out will likely come down to whether or not Bittle can play. If he can’t, look for the Ducks to struggle again. It doesn’t seem to be a coincidence that three of their four losses were games where Bittle was injured.
On the other hand, if he has recovered from the injury and is able to play, look for Oregon to give UCLA a run for its money. In fact, don’t be surprised if the Ducks come into Pauley and steal one if Bittle is back in the lineup. That’s how much of a difference maker he is for Oregon.
Here’s how to watch, listen and stream today’s UCLA men’s basketball game:
UCLA Men’s Basketball (6-2, 1-0)
Opponent: Oregon Ducks (4-4, 0-1)
Series Record: UCLA leads, 95-42
When: 3:00 pm PT, Saturday, December 6, 2025
Where: Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA
TV: None
Live Stream: Peacocktv.com with Guy Haberman and Matt Muehlebach and the Peacock app
Radio/Audio
Local Radio: KABC-AM 790 with Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray
Satellite Radio: SiriusXM Ch. 83 (UCLA Call)
Online: uclabruins.com
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast
Game Notes:
UCLA
Go Bruins!!!
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The officiating completely changed the complexion of this game.
In both Cronin and Altman’s defense, the fact that they had to challenge two obvious OoB calls speaks to how incompetent this ref crew has been this half.