KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Oregon lost one of its best players to an injury just before the NCAA Tournament, had to survive two nail-biters to reach the Midwest Regional finals, and then faced a top-seeded Kansas team that had romped to the brink of the Final Four.
Of course, the Ducks would rise to the occasion.
With swagger and verve and downright prolific shooting, the plucky team that everybody wanted to count out rolled to a 74-60 victory over the Jayhawks on Saturday night, earning the Ducks their first trip to the national semifinals in nearly 80 years.
Oregon Coach Dana Altman was hired by the Ducks in 2010, three years after the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville hired him to replace Stan Heath. But Altman decided to return to Creighton after one day.
Now Altman has guided the Ducks to the Final Four.
"You feel so good for so many people," Altman said. "It's a team effort. You feel good for a lot of people."
Tyler Dorsey hit six threes and poured in 27 points, Dillon Brooks added 17 and Jordan Bell finished with 11 points, 13 rebounds and 8 blocks in a virtuoso performance for the Ducks (33-5), who seized the lead with 16 minutes left in the first half and never trailed the rest of the way.
Now, they'll face the winner of today's game between North Carolina and Kentucky in the Final Four in Glendale, Ariz. It will be their first trip since 1939, when the Tall Firs won it all.
Player of the year candidate Frank Mason III had 21 points in his final game for the Jayhawks (31-5).
Star freshman Josh Jackson was mired in early foul trouble. Sharpshooting guard Devonte Graham never got on track. And the swagger the Jayhawks showed in humiliating Purdue in the Sweet 16 simply evaporated for a team that rolled to the Elite Eight by an average margin of 30 points.
"I'm disappointed for them more than I am for me," said Kansas Coach Bill Self, who fell to 2-7 in Elite Eight games, including four defeats as a No. 1 seed. "But the one thing that happened today, and it's hard to admit, the best team did win today."
The Ducks knew everything was stacked against them, but the point was only driven home when their bus passed the Power and Light District in downtown Kansas City on the way to the arena. Thousands of fans in red and blue were rallying hours before the tipoff, turning it into a de facto road game.
But the torrid shooting of Brooks, Dylan Ennis and Dorsey quickly deflated the sold-out Sprint Center, and sent a warning shot to the Jayhawks that they were in for a fight.
"You've got to give them credit," Graham said. "They hit some big shots."
Foul trouble sent Jackson to the bench for much of the first half, allowing the Ducks to carve out a comfortable lead. Then Dorsey finished the half with back-to-back threes, including a deep bank shot at the buzzer, as the Ducks pranced to their locker room with a 44-33 advantage.
"When you play hard throughout the whole game," Brooks said, "you catch some breaks."
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, and said later he'd "never been in such a tough position." Graham was 0 for 7 from the field, missing all six of his threes.
When Svi Mykhailiuk scored to make it 64-55, Ennis answered with a basket. When Mykhailiuk buried a three from the corner to make it 66-60 with 2:49 left, Dorsey answered at the other end with another three-pointer.
A few minutes later, the Ducks were cutting down the nets to end a satisfying trip to Kansas City.
Sports on 03/26/2017