Oregon, Gonzaga reach NCAA Final Four
KANSAS CITY, Missouri: Tyler Dorsey poured in 27 points, Dillon Brooks added 17 and plucky Oregon ended Kansas’ romp through the NCAA Tournament with a 74-60 victory Saturday night that gave the Ducks their first Final Four trip in nearly 80 years.
Dylan Ennis added 12 points for the Ducks (33-5), who took the lead with 16 minutes left in the first half and never trailed again, giving coach Dana Altman his first trip to the national semifinals.
They will face the winner of Sunday’s game between North Carolina and Kentucky in Glendale, Arizona.
Player of the year front-runner Frank Mason III had 21 points in his final game for the Jayhawks (31-5), who had rolled to the Elite Eight by an average margin of 30 points. But their dream season ended with a thud just 40 minutes from campus on a night where very little went right.
West region Gonzaga 83 Xavier 59: Nigel Williams-Goss scored 23 points while orchestrating Gonzaga’s efficient offense, and the Zags finally shook their overrated tag by routing Xavier 83-59 on Saturday to reach the Final Four for the first time.
Gonzaga (36-1) has been dogged by criticism through the years despite winning consistently, in part for playing in a weak conference but also for never making the Final Four.
On the cusp of history, the Zags took it head on with a superb all-around game to give coach Mark Few the one missing piece of his resume.
Gonzaga found the range from the perimeter after struggling the first three NCAA games, making 12 of 24 from 3-point range. The defense, a soft spot in the past, shut down the underdog and 11th-seeded Musketeers (24-14) to win the West Region.
The Zags will face the winner between South Carolina and Florida in next week’s Final Four in Arizona.
Women’s tournament UConn 86 UCLA 71: Napheesa Collier had 27 points and 14 rebounds to help UConn beat UCLA 86-71 on Saturday, putting the Huskies in the Bridgeport Regional final.
The victory was the 110th straight for the No. 1 Huskies, who will face 10th-seeded Oregon on Monday night. The Ducks pulled off another upset, shocking Maryland to advance to their first Elite Eight.
Buoyed by the success of their Pac-12 partner, the fourth-seed Bruins jumped out a 9-2 lead over UConn (35-0) before the Huskies scored 17 of the next 19 points. The sevenpoint deficit matched the Huskies’ largest this season.
The victory tied Geno Auriemma with Pat Summitt for most all-time NCAA Tournament victories. The two Hall of Fame coaches have 112 tournament victories.
Jordin Canada had 20 points and 11 assists for UCLA (25-9).