Road To The Final Four Leads Through Eugene!

Saturday, March 25

Kansas City, Kan.

5:45 PM

University of Oregon

33-5

Kansas

31-5

Oregon

Kansas

03/25/17 | Men's Basketball

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Oregon advanced to the Final Four with a 74-60 win over Kansas on Saturday.

By: Rob Moseley

KANSAS CITY — The Oregon Ducks will keep dancing, all the way to the Final Four.

The Midwest Region No. 3 seeded Ducks upset top seed Kansas on what was essentially a home court for the Jayhawks, winning 74-60 on Saturday in Sprint Center. The Ducks completed a methodical journey to the Final Four, coming up a game short after an Elite Eight loss in 2016, and now reaching the last weekend of the season, to be played in Phoenix suburb Glendale, Ariz.

Oregon is back in the Final Four for the first time since 1939, when the "Tall Firs" won the first NCAA men's basketball title.

"I am so happy for our team, our staff, our university," UO coach Dana Altman said. "1939 was a long time ago, and I think everybody will be pretty excited about the opportunity to go to Phoenix and play for a national title. We've won two four-team tournaments here now, so we have an opportunity to play in another one. I know our guys will get ready."

How It Happened: The Ducks (33-5) pestered Kansas on the perimeter all night, and could afford to do so thanks to the post presence of Jordan Bell, who blocked eight shots. At the other end, "Mr. March" Tyler Dorsey made it seven 20-point efforts in seven postseason games, making 6-of-10 three-pointers for 27 points. Dillon Brooks added 17.

Keeping the partisan crowd largely out of the game, Oregon raced out to a 12-5 lead, and only ended up trailing 32 seconds the entire game. The Ducks made six straight field-goal attempts at one point, the last a Casey Benson bucket for a 27-21 lead. That was about when Kansas' national player of the year candidate got going, as he scored 15 straight points for the Jayhawks to keep them in the game. But the last of those only got Kansas within 36-31, and the Ducks scored the final eight points of the half; on the penultimate possession Dorsey had a three rattle off the rim, glance high off the glass and fall in, and he followed by banking in a three at the buzzer.

"In games like this, so much of it comes down to 50/50 balls and it seemed like to me they got their hands and were able to secure a lot of loose balls," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "The other thing they did a great job of was how many times did they make shots at the end of the clock that were pretty well defended.

"We're down five and hadn't played very well in the first half with a minute, 50 left, and they bang in those two -- well, they banged in the two threes in the last 45 seconds that made a close game, an 11-point game and certainly put a lot of game pressure on us."

Oregon survived Kansas' attempt to counterpunch out of the half, building the lead to 55-37 on a Brooks three-pointer. The lead was still comfortable was Bell dunked home a shot for a 59-44 lead, but the Jayhawks weren't done. They eventually closed within six at 66-60 on a Mason three-pointer. But Oregon scored the last eight points of the game, while Kansas missed five three-point attempts in the final three minutes.

Who Stood Out: Dorsey made 9-of-13 overall for his 27 points, and added five rebounds. Brooks had five rebounds and four assists, and Bell was everywhere with 11 points, 13 rebounds, a season-high eight blocks and four assists. Dylan Ennis added 12 points.

"I thought Jordan Bell was unbelievable on the defensive end tonight," Altman said. "He got a couple of blocks early and I thought it really put a thought in their mind. Tyler hit some big threes, especially the two right before the half and the one when it got to 66-60. And Dillon Brooks just gives us a lot of passion. He played extremely hard. He gave us some big buckets, and I thought Dylan Ennis gave us a big lift both offensively and defensively."

Bell was named most outstanding player of the Midwest Regional, and Brooks and Dorsey were named to the all-tournament team.

Notable: Oregon broke the school record for points in a season by reaching 3,000. The previous record was 2,994 in 2001-02. In addition to points, the Ducks have set school records for field goals (1,069), assists (607) and blocked shots (241) this season. ... It was the second straight year the Ducks set the school record for field goals; Oregon made 1,041 field goals in 2015-16. ... Bell moved into fifth in Pac-12 career blocked shots with 231. He passed David Kravish of California (226, 2012-15) on Saturday. ... Bell also recorded his fifth straight NCAA Tournament game with 12 or more rebounds. ... Brooks is Oregon's career leader in NCAA Tournament scoring (152), field goals made (57), field goals attempted (127) and assists (31), while Bell is the career tournament leader in rebounds (98) and blocked shots (29). ... Dorsey became Oregon's NCAA Tournament career leader in three-pointers made with 22. He passed Tajuan Porter (19, 2007-08).

What It Means: Oregon advanced to the Final Four, where the Ducks face the winner of Sunday's game between North Carolina and Kentucky.

Up Next: The Final Four begins Saturday in Phoenix.

Fans seeking Final Four travel and ticket information can visit goduckstravel.com to book travel accommodations and book tickets to see the Ducks take on North Carolina on Saturday in Glendale, Ariz.