Thursday, March 23
Kansas City, Kan.
4:00 PM
University of Oregon
32-5
69
vs
68
Michigan
26-12
1
2
F
Michigan
33
35
68
Oregon
35
34
69
Photo by: GoDucks.com
For The Second Year In A Row, Oregon Is Elite
03/23/17 | Men's Basketball
The UO men's basketball team gritted out a 69-68 win over Michigan in the Sweet Sixteen on Thursday in Kansas City.
KANSAS CITY — Some things, at halftime of Oregon's Sweet Sixteen matchup with Michigan in the Sprint Center on Thursday, were very much unlike halftime four days earlier in Sacramento.
Then, when the Ducks trailed Rhode Island by eight in the second round, UO coach Dana Altman asked camera crews shadowing the team to leave, then lit into his players. The message was received: Oregon clamped down on defense, tightened up its offense and pulled out a thrilling three-point win to advance to Thursday's date with the Wolverines.
Some things, though, were very much the same. Oregon led Michigan by two at the half Thursday. But Altman knew it would take similar grit and toughness to knock off the nation's hottest team. No speech could change that.
"That's you," Altman told the Ducks in the locker room. "That's your decision. Same thing's gotta happen. You gotta make the decision to grind."
Different day, same script: Taken to the wire by the Wolverines, Oregon made all the big plays down the stretch Thursday, pulling out a 69-68 win to reach the Elite Eight for the second year in a row, and the sixth time in school history. There were a couple of huge offensive rebounds by Jordan Bell, again. The go-ahead basket by Tyler Dorsey, again. And the Ducks showing the most heart with the game on the line, again.
"We never quit," said Dorsey, whose layin with 1:08 to play made it 69-68 and gave him 20 points, his sixth straight game hitting that mark this postseason. "We just keep fighting. We know how to win."
The Ducks, who won their school-record 32nd game, knew they were in for a fight. Just before they took the floor, in the last pregame huddle, senior Dylan Ennis urged his teammates on — "They ain't seen no dogs like us!"
Wait, huh? This was a Michigan team that had won seven in a row, including six straight after a harrowing airline accident. That caused the Wolverines to arrive at the Big Ten Tournament the morning of their opening game, and have to play in practice jerseys. And yet they won that day, and the next three, knocking off fellow Sweet Sixteen teams Wisconsin and Purdue to win the title.
Then, Michigan held off Oklahoma State and upset No. 2 seed Louisville on the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament. And the Ducks were going to be asked to match — or even exceed — the mental toughness of a group that had gone through all that?
"No disrespect," junior Jordan Bell said, "but we didn't need to go through that to play tough, play hard, play with passion. I love playing basketball, and I want to show that every time I take the floor."
For the second game in a row, Bell proved as much with the game on the line. After Derrick Walton Jr. put Michigan up 68-65 with 2:02 left, Ennis went to the line at the other end for a one-and-one. He missed the first, but Bell collected the rebound and laid in the putback.
It was a one-point game, and Bell had saved Ennis' bacon again. His rebound-basket came with 1:47 left on the clock, the same amount of time left when Dorsey's three tied Oregon's second-round game with Rhode Island at 72-72 — following a Bell rebound of an Ennis missed free throw.
"I was like, I have faith in Dylan … but I'm going to go (hard to the boards), just in case," Bell said Thursday, after finishing with 16 points and 13 rebounds, his eighth double-double of the season.
Michigan still had the ball and the lead, but Walton, a guard, tried to put up a shot over Bell, and it missed. Brooks collected the rebound, and Dorsey scored at the other end, what proved to be his second straight game-winner.
Improbably, after another Michigan miss, Ennis ended up at the line for another one-and-one chance. He missed again. Had Walton's step-back 18-footer at the buzzer not been short, "I would've quit basketball," Ennis joked.
He won't have to, and not just because Walton missed. Because Ennis and his teammates have, under Altman's leadership, coalesced into a team that finds a way to win, despite playing the last four games without rim-protector Chris Boucher.
"No matter who we're playing, we're going to come out tough," Ennis said. "They had a lot of momentum, but that didn't faze us."
Neither team seemed fazed out of the gate Thursday, as the Ducks scored on three straight possessions for an early 5-0 lead, and Michigan answered with back-to-back threes by D.J. Wilson for its first lead, 6-5. But from there, both teams struggled to score consistently. Oregon shot 41.4 percent in the first half, but held the Wolverines' potent offense to 39.3 percent, and turned them over seven times, two off their season average for a full game.
The Ducks had a few shots rim out in the half. Perhaps that factored into their buoyant confidence when they returned to the locker room with a halftime lead of just two points.
"Tell me it ain't there for the taking!?!" assistant coach Mike Mennenga said.
"Right where we wanna be," Altman said. "Didn't play our best, and we're right there. … We're so much better than that. Let's go out there and fight, scratch, claw."
It would take all of that to pull out the win, maybe more than the coach could ever have known. Brooks put Oregon up 50-44 with a three, but the Ducks then went cold despite being able to get to the rim. Michigan took advantage of those misses in the post, scoring seven straight for a 51-50 lead.
A Dorsey three-pointer put Oregon back ahead, and Ennis completed a three-point play for a 56-51 advantage. But threes by Wilson and Walton made it 61-60 for the Wolverines. Dorsey, continuing to earn the "Mr. March"moniker, hit yet another go-ahead three, but a few minutes later Walton pulled up over Casey Benson for his jumper that made it 68-65.
This was it. This was when Oregon had to make the decision Altman mentioned at halftime. The decision to grind it out. To make something happen.
Bell did so with his putback. Dorsey did so with the go-ahead layin. And the entire team did enough at the defensive end to get Oregon back to the Elite Eight.
With two minutes to go, it looked like Walton, a senior playing his 126th college game, was going to be the veteran who made the biggest plays in the end. But this is a tournament-tested Oregon team; Brooks now holds UO career records for points (125), field goals made (50) and attempted (103), and assists (27). Bell is the program's all-time leader in NCAA Tournament rebounds (85) and blocks (21).
"Hey, bro, that's some heart right there!" Brooks said as he bounded into the locker room after the Oregon victory.
Next up is Kansas, in what's essentially a home game for the top-seeded Jayhawks. But the Ducks are proving themselves a tough out in this tournament.
They may be underdogs. But there's a lot of fight in this Oregon dog.
Then, when the Ducks trailed Rhode Island by eight in the second round, UO coach Dana Altman asked camera crews shadowing the team to leave, then lit into his players. The message was received: Oregon clamped down on defense, tightened up its offense and pulled out a thrilling three-point win to advance to Thursday's date with the Wolverines.
Some things, though, were very much the same. Oregon led Michigan by two at the half Thursday. But Altman knew it would take similar grit and toughness to knock off the nation's hottest team. No speech could change that.
"That's you," Altman told the Ducks in the locker room. "That's your decision. Same thing's gotta happen. You gotta make the decision to grind."
Different day, same script: Taken to the wire by the Wolverines, Oregon made all the big plays down the stretch Thursday, pulling out a 69-68 win to reach the Elite Eight for the second year in a row, and the sixth time in school history. There were a couple of huge offensive rebounds by Jordan Bell, again. The go-ahead basket by Tyler Dorsey, again. And the Ducks showing the most heart with the game on the line, again.
"We never quit," said Dorsey, whose layin with 1:08 to play made it 69-68 and gave him 20 points, his sixth straight game hitting that mark this postseason. "We just keep fighting. We know how to win."
The Ducks, who won their school-record 32nd game, knew they were in for a fight. Just before they took the floor, in the last pregame huddle, senior Dylan Ennis urged his teammates on — "They ain't seen no dogs like us!"
Wait, huh? This was a Michigan team that had won seven in a row, including six straight after a harrowing airline accident. That caused the Wolverines to arrive at the Big Ten Tournament the morning of their opening game, and have to play in practice jerseys. And yet they won that day, and the next three, knocking off fellow Sweet Sixteen teams Wisconsin and Purdue to win the title.
Then, Michigan held off Oklahoma State and upset No. 2 seed Louisville on the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament. And the Ducks were going to be asked to match — or even exceed — the mental toughness of a group that had gone through all that?
"No disrespect," junior Jordan Bell said, "but we didn't need to go through that to play tough, play hard, play with passion. I love playing basketball, and I want to show that every time I take the floor."
For the second game in a row, Bell proved as much with the game on the line. After Derrick Walton Jr. put Michigan up 68-65 with 2:02 left, Ennis went to the line at the other end for a one-and-one. He missed the first, but Bell collected the rebound and laid in the putback.
It was a one-point game, and Bell had saved Ennis' bacon again. His rebound-basket came with 1:47 left on the clock, the same amount of time left when Dorsey's three tied Oregon's second-round game with Rhode Island at 72-72 — following a Bell rebound of an Ennis missed free throw.
"I was like, I have faith in Dylan … but I'm going to go (hard to the boards), just in case," Bell said Thursday, after finishing with 16 points and 13 rebounds, his eighth double-double of the season.
Michigan still had the ball and the lead, but Walton, a guard, tried to put up a shot over Bell, and it missed. Brooks collected the rebound, and Dorsey scored at the other end, what proved to be his second straight game-winner.
Improbably, after another Michigan miss, Ennis ended up at the line for another one-and-one chance. He missed again. Had Walton's step-back 18-footer at the buzzer not been short, "I would've quit basketball," Ennis joked.
He won't have to, and not just because Walton missed. Because Ennis and his teammates have, under Altman's leadership, coalesced into a team that finds a way to win, despite playing the last four games without rim-protector Chris Boucher.
"No matter who we're playing, we're going to come out tough," Ennis said. "They had a lot of momentum, but that didn't faze us."
Neither team seemed fazed out of the gate Thursday, as the Ducks scored on three straight possessions for an early 5-0 lead, and Michigan answered with back-to-back threes by D.J. Wilson for its first lead, 6-5. But from there, both teams struggled to score consistently. Oregon shot 41.4 percent in the first half, but held the Wolverines' potent offense to 39.3 percent, and turned them over seven times, two off their season average for a full game.
The Ducks had a few shots rim out in the half. Perhaps that factored into their buoyant confidence when they returned to the locker room with a halftime lead of just two points.
"Tell me it ain't there for the taking!?!" assistant coach Mike Mennenga said.
"Right where we wanna be," Altman said. "Didn't play our best, and we're right there. … We're so much better than that. Let's go out there and fight, scratch, claw."
It would take all of that to pull out the win, maybe more than the coach could ever have known. Brooks put Oregon up 50-44 with a three, but the Ducks then went cold despite being able to get to the rim. Michigan took advantage of those misses in the post, scoring seven straight for a 51-50 lead.
A Dorsey three-pointer put Oregon back ahead, and Ennis completed a three-point play for a 56-51 advantage. But threes by Wilson and Walton made it 61-60 for the Wolverines. Dorsey, continuing to earn the "Mr. March"moniker, hit yet another go-ahead three, but a few minutes later Walton pulled up over Casey Benson for his jumper that made it 68-65.
This was it. This was when Oregon had to make the decision Altman mentioned at halftime. The decision to grind it out. To make something happen.
Bell did so with his putback. Dorsey did so with the go-ahead layin. And the entire team did enough at the defensive end to get Oregon back to the Elite Eight.
With two minutes to go, it looked like Walton, a senior playing his 126th college game, was going to be the veteran who made the biggest plays in the end. But this is a tournament-tested Oregon team; Brooks now holds UO career records for points (125), field goals made (50) and attempted (103), and assists (27). Bell is the program's all-time leader in NCAA Tournament rebounds (85) and blocks (21).
"Hey, bro, that's some heart right there!" Brooks said as he bounded into the locker room after the Oregon victory.
Next up is Kansas, in what's essentially a home game for the top-seeded Jayhawks. But the Ducks are proving themselves a tough out in this tournament.
They may be underdogs. But there's a lot of fight in this Oregon dog.
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Team Stats
MICH
ORE
FG%
.431
.448
3FG%
.355
.471
FT%
1.000
.563
RB
31
36
TO
8
5
STL
3
6
Game Leaders
Pts
20
FGM
7
3FGM
5
FTM
1
Pts
16
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
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