Oregon rallies late to beat URI

With Oregon’s season on the brink of an early NCAA Tournament exit, Tyler Dorsey and Dillon Brooks delivered as they have so many times this season in crunch time.

Dorsey hit a contested go-ahead 3-pointer from the top of the arc with 38.4 seconds to play, then E.C. Matthews airballed a long 3 in the waning moments trying to force overtime, and third-seeded Oregon rallied in the second half to beat upstart No. 11 Rhode Island 75-72 on Sunday and reach the Midwest Regional.

Dorsey also tied the game with a 3 with 1:45 remaining on the way to 27 points before Brooks took a charge on the other end for Oregon (31-5).

With Oregon’s season on the brink of an early NCAA Tournament exit, Brooks found his shooting stroke as he typically does and scored 19 points despite a 7-for-20 shooting day. Dorsey made 9 of 10 shots with four 3-pointers.

Rhode Island nearly scrapped and hustled its way into the next round, with Stanford Robinson matching his career high of 21 points as the Rams (25-10) had their nine-game winning streak snapped to end the season.

Dorsey missed two free throws with 3:36 left but made up for it.

The Ducks led early behind Dorsey’s fast start, but Rhode Island grabbed momentum late in the first half.

URI closed the first half on a 14-2 run — including 7-0 over the final 1:30 with Matthews’ threepoint play at 52.6 — in the last 3:23.