Layup by ‘Mr. March’ spells difference
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 third-seeded Oregon held on to end No. 7 Michigan’s dramatic postseason run with a 69-68 victory in a Midwest Regional semifinal on Thursday 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 has 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 Michigan (26-12), it was the end of a wild ride.
The Wolverines have gone through a lot, with their plane skidding off the runway as they tried to fly to the Big Ten Tournament and advancing to the Sweet 16 as a No. 7 seed.
Ultimately, fatigue might have caught up to them. They shot just 39.3 percent against the Ducks and didn’t seem to have that special ingredient they showed last week.
“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 double-double for the Ducks, with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Brooks added 12 points, and Ennis had 10.
Walton led the Wolverines with 20 points, and Zak Irvin added 19.
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 seasonending knee injury. Oregon had plenty of inside game without Boucher, outscoring the Wolverines 34-16 in the paint and outrebounding them 36-31.