March Madness 2017, Kansas vs Oregon: Highlights, score and recap

Highlights from Saturday’s Midwest Regional Final between the top-seeded Kansas Jayhawks and No. 3 seed Oregon Ducks from the Sprint Center.

The Oregon Ducks advanced to the program’s first Final Four in 78 years with an impressive defensive effort in a 74-60 win over the top-seeded Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday night at the Sprint Center.

Kansas’ free-flowing offense could not get going early on with no points until the 16:13 mark, and received a huge blow when phenom Josh Jackson picked up his second foul two-and-a-half minutes in. Oregon was initially able to take advantage by building a 12-5 lead on a pair of triples from red-hot Tyler Dorsey to continue his outstanding tournament campaign.

It didn’t take long for the Jayhawks to erase the deficit with a 7-0 run to tie things up at the under-12. Jordan Bell helped the Ducks control the paint, but seven points from Lagerald Vick in place of Jackson helped Kansas keep things close throughout the middle part of the first half.

Dorsey buried a pair of perimeter shots in the final 45 seconds to push Oregon’s lead to 44-33 at the break despite 17 points from Frank Mason. The Ducks shot 60 percent from the field with seven 3-point makes, while Bell collected eight rebounds and four blocks.

Bell’s dominance continued in the early stages of the second with a putback that gave him 10 rebounds to match Kansas’ entire output on the glass, as Oregon took its largest lead at 52-37 at the 16:55 mark. Dillon Brooks started to pour in the points, with the Ducks building a 16-point lead at the under-12.

Jackson finally got on the scoreboard as part of a 14-6 run and Kansas’ defense tightened down to get as close as 10 as the clock ticked under seven minutes. Turnovers piled up for the Ducks, and Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk hit Kansas’ first 3-point shot of the half to make it a 66-60 game with 2:49 to go.

Bell grabbed yet another offensive rebound, setting up a Dorsey dagger triple to push the lead back to nine. Kansas could simply not hit anything from the perimeter in the second half, and Oregon sealed the 74-60 victory at the foul line to move to the Final Four.

Oregon’s defense deserves all the credit for holding the Kansas offense, which had dominated the first three rounds of the tournament, to 35 percent shooting from the floor, including a 5-of-25 mark from beyond the arc. Jackson and Devonte’ Graham combined for just 13 points, as Mason could find little support offensively.

Three Stars

3. Frank Mason, G, Kansas. Only source of offense for Kansas with 21 points to close out a terrific season.

2. Tyler Dorsey, G, Oregon. Lived up to his “Mr. March” nickname with a game-high 27 points on 9-of-13 shooting.

1. Jordan Bell, F, Oregon. Stuffed the stat sheet with 11 points, 13 rebounds (including seven on the offensive end) and eight blocks.

Highlights

https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/845804072661766145

Up Next

The Ducks will advance to the Final Four next Saturday to take on the winner of North Carolina and Kansas.