Oregon, Kansas move on
Midwest Regional: The Ducks get by Michigan, 69-68, setting up a matchup with the Jayhawks, who crush Purdue, 98-66.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — How to repay a friend who just saved you from infamy? Dylan Ennis sat in Oregon’s locker room after the Ducks’ 69-68 win over Michigan and considered what he owed Jordan Bell.
“I gotta buy him dinner,” Ennis said. “I definitely gotta buy him dinner.”
Cheesecake Factory, maybe, he said — Bell’s favorite.
“Dylan owes me a car,” said Bell, sitting across the locker room, unimpressed.
Ennis was in no position to negotiate, not after Bell bailed him out after two crucial missed free throws late in Thursday’s first Midwest Regional semifinal.
Two Los Angeles-area guys, Long Beach Poly’s Bell and Maranatha High’s Tyler Dorsey, did mop-up duty for the Ducks to put the Pac-12 Conference one win from the Final Four. A masterpiece the game was not. Only Dorsey and Michigan’s Derrick Walton Jr. dazzled. Each scored 20.
With two minutes left, Walton made a slick jumper that rattled almost in, out, then back in again. It was the kind of roll a team gets after it has been in a minor plane crash, which, coincidentally, Michigan was this month before winning six in a row. The make kept the magic alive. Michigan led by three.
Ennis got his first free throw 12 seconds later. Clank. But Bell wriggled past Michigan’s box-out and scored a putback.
Dorsey hit the go-ahead basket on the next possession.
Ennis’ trials weren’t over. With 15 seconds left, another Bell rebound (he scored 16 points with 13 rebounds) gave Ennis a chance at redemption. Clank.
During a timeout, Ennis thought to himself, “Damn, Dylan. Good job. I almost pissed away the season.”
He looked for sympathy; he found his dad.
“Free throws, Dylan,” his dad said.
Oregon Coach Dana Altman had more pressing issues. He needed Ennis to foul Walton before he could hoist a game-winning shot. The Ducks had fouls to give. Altman made that clear.
Walton pulled up. Ennis played it clean.
“I was a little upset,” Altman said.
He waited. Michigan waited.
“No one else on the team we wanted taking that shot,” guard Zak Irvin said.
Sometimes, a mess of a game can produce pleasing symmetry. Oregon and Michigan finished with the same number of shots: 58. Oregon made 26. Michigan made 25.
Michigan was one short: The magic expired, Walton’s try hit the front rim and Ennis was free.
Kansas 98, Purdue 66 — No team left in the tournament provides the raw, visceral viewing experience that Kansas does. Witness: In the second half of Kansas’ victory over Purdue, Lagerald Vick swiped the ball, tooled away, spun 360 degrees in the air and slammed the ball hard — a dunk contest move in the middle of a regional semifinal game.
“I lost my mind,” forward Josh Jackson said. “I forgot I was out there playing for a minute.”
Right now, this tournament belongs to the Jayhawks. They spotted Purdue an eight-point lead late in the first half as if it were charity. Their average margin of victory in the tournament is now 30 points. They’re the first team since Connecticut in 1995 to score 90 or more points in their first three games.
“I would say we’re pretty good,” forward Svi Mykhailiuk said.
“We’re spoiled,” Coach Bill Self said.
And to think, some questioned point guard Frank Mason III’s ability to play against bigger competition such as Purdue. He scored 26 points, missed just two shots and had seven rebounds and assists.
“He settled a lot of debates a long time ago,” Jackson said. “Tonight, if that didn’t, then I don’t know what to tell you.”