Ducks dominate, end long drought

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — 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.

They’ll play the Kentucky-North Carolina winner in Glendale, Ariz.

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.

Player of the year frontrunner Frank Mason III scored 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 when very little went right.

Star freshman Josh Jackson was mired in early foul trouble. Sharpshooting guard Devonte Graham never got on track. And the swagger the Big 12 champs showed in humiliating Purdue in the Sweet 16 quickly became a distant memory on a night that belonged to the Pac-12 champions.

Jordan Bell added 11 points, 13 rebounds and eight blocks for Oregon, while Jackson was held to 10 points for the Jayhawks in what was almost certainly his final college game.

Altman had never been to the Final Four in 13 appearances in the NCAA tournament. And the last time the Ducks were on the big stage, it was 1939 and the Tall Firs took home the title.

Dorsey finished the first half with back-to-back 3s, including a deep bank shot at the buzzer, as the Ducks pranced to their locker room relishing a 44-33 advantage.

They kept right on dancing in the second half, beating the Jayhawks at their own game: Getting into transition, passing up good shots for better ones and knocking down 3-pointers.

The Ducks’ lead swelled to 55-37 when Brooks drilled another shot from the perimeter. Jackson didn’t score until midway through the second half. Graham was 0-for-6 beyond the arc.

Oregon wound up shooting 51 percent from the field and hit 11 of 25 from 3-point range.

It’s the kind of torrid shooting that has derailed the Jayhawks several times this season.