Dorsey delivers in Ducks victory
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Tyler Dorsey’s teammates call him “Mr. March.” Yeah, that fits. Dorsey scored 20 points and made the go-ahead layup with 1:08 left, and thirdseeded Oregon held on to MIDWEST REGIONAL end No. 7 Michigan’s dramatic postseason run with a 69-68 victory in a Midwest Regional semifinal last night.
“We lean on him right now,” the Ducks’ Dylan Ennis said. “He’s playing his best basketball, and it’s coming at the right time.”
Dorsey’s recent surge has been timely, for sure. He’s scored 20 or more points in six straight games, a stretch that has seen Pac-12 player of the year Dillon Brooks struggle with his shot.
Oregon didn’t have the win secured until Derrick Walton Jr., who had carried the Wolverines the last three weeks, was off with his long jumper just before the buzzer.
For the Ducks (32-5), it’s on to the Elite Eight for the second straight year.
For the Wolverines (2612), it was the end of a wild ride.
“The kids fought their hearts out this whole season,” Michigan coach John Beilein said, “but particularly this last six weeks to be more than a story. It was a great team. They were becoming a great team before the story. We weren’t sharp as we would have liked to have been today, but you have to credit Oregon with that.”
Jordan Bell had a doubledouble for the Ducks, with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Brooks added 12 points and Ennis had 10.
Walton led the Wolverines with 20 points, eight assists and five rebounds. Zak Irvin had 14 of his 19 points in the second half and DJ Wilson had 12 points.
The Ducks’ run to the regional final has come without big man Chris Boucher, who went out in the Pac-12 tournament semifinals with a season-ending knee injury. Oregon had plenty of inside game without Boucher, outscoring the Wolverines 34-16 in the paint and outrebounding them 36-31.
Its biggest play in the post came after Walton had made a jumper to give Michigan a 68-65 lead. Ennis got fouled and went to the line for a one-and-one. He missed, and Bell swooped in for the offensive rebound and put it in to make it a one-point game.
“We have a play that we practice on, if one of us misses a free throw. We executed it perfectly,” Bell said.
After Walton missed a layup on the other end, Dorsey gave the Ducks the lead.
Ennis missed another free throw with 15 seconds left, giving Michigan one more chance. Oregon had two fouls to give and wanted to use them so Michigan would have to inbound the ball. The Ducks couldn’t get it done, though, and Walton was able to put up one more shot.
“We were supposed to foul,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “Dylan Ennis had an opportunity there. I was a little upset that he didn’t. Fortunately the ball didn’t go in.” Kansas 98, Purdue 66 — Player of the year front-runner Frank Mason III poured in 26 points, and the topseeded Jayhawks turned on the jets in the second half and soared to a blowout of the No. 4 Boilermakers.
Devonte Graham also had 26 points and Josh Jackson had 15 points and 12 rebounds for Kansas (314), which led by seven at halftime before their upand-down pace finally wore down Purdue.
Kansas used two big runs, including an 11-0 charge highlighted by Lagerald Vicks’ 360-degree drunk, to coast into a matchup with No. 3 seed Oregon tomorrow for a spot in the Final Four.
The Ducks survived a nail-biter against Michigan earlier in the night.
Caleb Swanigan had 18 points and seven boards for the Boilermakers (27-8), but the 6-foot-9, 250-pound All-America candidate had to work for all of it. The Jayhawks kept collapsing on him in the post, forcing Swanigan to begin taking 3-pointers early in the second half.
It wasn’t much longer before the game was out of reach.
Kansas got off to a slow start, stunned by Purdue’s surprise 3-point shooting. By the time Kansas realized the game had started, coach Matt Painter’s team had raced to a 25-18 lead midway through the first half.
The Jayhawks eventually found their footing, closing on a 22-7 run to take a 47-40 lead into the locker room.