LOS ANGELES — In the thick of a sporadic Big Ten schedule, Mick Cronin said he feared for his team’s emotional gas tank. So, the Tuesday after UCLA beat USC, he gave them a mental rest day. No contact practice. No opponent scouting report.

“As a coach,” Cronin said Wednesday, “you got to try to assess when you think they’re on overload.”

Indeed, Cronin’s fingers were on the pulse. UCLA rewarded their coach with its fifth consecutive win and arguably its best performance of the season in a 78-52 win over No. 16 Oregon. The Bruins (16-6 overall, 7-4 Big Ten) had their most efficient shooting night from the field (58%) and from 3-point range (55%) in conference play. They held the Ducks (16-5, 5-5) to 39.6% from the field and 13.6% from deep.

It was the perfect time for a breakout performance as UCLA’s NIL collective Men of Westwood discounted tickets and the stands were filled.

Transition buckets and points off turnovers kept the UCLA men’s basketball afloat through much of the season, but recently its offense has been holding its own.

Over the Bruins recent win streak, which extended to five games, they scored 78 points or more four times.

Eric Dailey Jr. got the Bruins going early with seven consecutive points and led UCLA with 21 points. Tyler Bilodeau returned from an ankle injury that kept him out of UCLA’s game against USC on Monday and quickly shed any rust, hitting a 3 on the Bruins opening possession. He added 15 points as did Dylan Andrews

UCLA built a double-digit lead 28-18 on the back of its half-court defense. The Bruins walled off the paint, forcing Oregon to hoist contested perimeter jumpers and the Ducks went just 4 of 23 from deep. Skyy Clark matched up against Jackson Shelstad and held the streaking sophomore scoreless.

After an ugly stretch where both teams combined for just one field goal from the 8-min mark to the 4:30-mark of the first half, the Bruins an impressive stretch to close the half.

Clark pushed the pace on consecutive possessions, dumping passes to Bilodeau and then to Aday Mara, then Bilodeau hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key.

Mara then got beat on a drive from Brandon Angel, but recovered to block his floater attempt, which sent Kobe Johnson the other way for a fast-break layup that put UCLA up 40-24.

UCLA conceded a slew of straight line drives to start the second half, but its offense continued to make up for it. Just after Oregon had cut the margin to 10, Johnson stripped Nate Bittle on one end and then drove and dumped Aday Mara for a dunk on the other end. With 10:13 remaining, Johnson hit a jumper from the left short-corner and then Dylan Andrews stuck his third 3-pointer of the night to give UCLA a 60-42 with 9:21 remaining.

From there, the Bruins went on another surge, an 12-2 run emphasized by a dunk from Dailey.

The Bruins’ complete dominance of the Ducks is notable as two points seaparated these on Dec. 8. This, too, was UCLA’s fourth win over an opponent ranked inside the top-20 at the time of the game