Ducks end Michigan's run with 69-68 victory, head to Elite 8

By ERIC OLSON
AP Sports Writer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) Tyler Dorsey's teammates call him "Mr. March."

Yeah, that fits.

Dorsey scored 20 points and made the go-ahead layup with 1:08 left, and third-seeded Oregon held on to end No. 7 Michigan's dramatic postseason run with a 69-68 victory in a Midwest Regional semifinal on Thursday night.

"We lean on him right now," the Ducks' Dylan Ennis said. "He's playing his best basketball, and it's coming at the right time."

Dorsey's recent surge has been timely, for sure. He's scored 20 or more points in six straight games, a stretch that has seen Pac-12 player of the year Dillon Brooks struggle with his shot.

Oregon didn't have the win secured until Derrick Walton Jr., who had carried the Wolverines the last three weeks, was off with his long jumper just before the buzzer.

For the Ducks (32-5), it's on to the Elite Eight for the second straight year.

For the Wolverines (26-12), it was the end of a wild ride.

"The kids fought their hearts out this whole season," Michigan coach John Beilein said, "but particularly this last six weeks to be more than a story. It was a great team. They were becoming a great team before the story. We weren't sharp as we would have liked to have been today, but you have to credit Oregon with that."

Jordan Bell had a double-double for the Ducks, with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Brooks added 12 points and Ennis had 10.

Walton led the Wolverines with 20 points, eight assists and five rebounds. Zak Irvin had 14 of his 19 points in the second half and DJ Wilson had 12 points.

The Ducks' run to the regional final has come without big man Chris Boucher, who went out in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals with a season-ending knee injury. Oregon had plenty of inside game without Boucher, outscoring the Wolverines 34-16 in the paint and outrebounding them 36-31.

Its biggest play in the post came after Walton had made a jumper to give Michigan a 68-65 lead. Ennis got fouled and went to the line for a one-and-one. He missed, and Bell swooped in for the offensive rebound and put it in to make it a one-point game.

"We have a play that we practice on, if one of us misses a free throw. We executed it perfectly," Bell said.

After Walton missed a layup on the other end, Dorsey gave the Ducks the lead.

Ennis missed another free throw with 15 seconds left, giving Michigan one more chance. Oregon had two fouls to give and wanted to use them so Michigan would have to inbound the ball. The Ducks couldn't get it done, though, and Walton was able to put up one more shot.

"We were supposed to foul," Oregon coach Dana Altman said. "Dylan Ennis had an opportunity there. I was a little upset that he didn't. Fortunately the ball didn't go in."

BIG PICTURE

Michigan: The Wolverines have gone through a lot, with their plane skidding off the runway as they tried to fly to the Big Ten Tournament and advancing to the Sweet 16 as a No. 7 seed. Ultimately, fatigue might have caught up to them. They shot just 39.3 percent against the Ducks and didn't seem to have that special ingredient they showed last week.

Oregon: The Ducks set the school record with their 32nd win and are off to the Elite Eight for the second straight year thanks to a big-time performance from Dorsey.

WOE IS MOE

Michigan's Moe Wagner scored a career-high 26 points in Sunday's win over No. 2 seed Louisville. But he missed six of his first seven shots against the Ducks and finished with seven points after going 3 for 10.

LUCKY DUCKS

Oregon won despite making just 9 of 16 free throws. The Ducks came in shooting 71 percent from the line. "Nine for 16 usually spells disaster at this time of year," Altman said.

UP NEXT

Michigan's season is over.

Oregon plays Kansas in a regional final Saturday.

Arizona, Miller meet Xavier again in NCAA Tournament

Stats, LLC

Arizona coach Sean Miller is taking on his former employer in the Sweet 16, which might be a big storyline … if it hadn’t already happened two years ago.

The Wildcats, seeded second in the West, have a Thursday date against No. 11 Xavier, the only double-digit seed left in the NCAA Tournament. The game is scheduled to tip off at about 10:09 p.m. ET after the Gonzaga-West Virginia game in San Jose, Calif.

Arizona and Xavier met in the 2015 Sweet 16, with the Wildcats winning 68-60 in a hard-fought game in Los Angeles.

There is not much to take from that, as only two current Arizona players — point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright and center Dusan Ristic — appeared in that game for a total of nine minutes. Musketeers star guard Trevon Bluiett, then a freshman, scored two points on 1-of-6 shooting.

This time around, the Wildcats (32-4) have superior size and two big-time scorers in sophomore guard Allonzo Trier and freshman 7-foot forward Lauri Markkanen.

Xavier (22-13) has Bluiett, who is averaging 17.7 points per game, and a resiliency that led to opening-weekend upsets of No. 6 Maryland and No. 3 Florida State.

Many counted out the Musketeers after guard Edmond Sumner sustained a season-ending knee injury in late January. That came on the heels of guard Myles Davis leaving the team after a brief return from a 15-game, season-opening suspension.

Sumner averaged 15.0 points this season. Davis, who appeared in three games in January, averaged 10.8 points and 4.1 assists per game last season.

“I told them out in the real world, life is going to hand you lemons, and you can pout about it and figure out how to make lemonade,” Xavier coach Chris Mack said of his message to his players.

“Our guys, despite all the adversity they’ve been hit with and the social media that tells them how bad they are and how poor they are, they stayed with it, and they believed in themselves and our coaching staff. It’s a credit to them, and I’m just really proud of them.”

Miller, who was the head coach at Xavier for five seasons before joining Arizona in 2009, often cites his team’s own resiliency as a key to this season’s success.

The Wildcats lost redshirt freshman forward Ray Smith in the preseason to a career-ending third torn ACL, was without Trier for 19 games (suspension), missed Jackson-Cartwright for a month (ankle) and had other assorted injuries.

The team’s only senior — guard Kadeem Allen — has been the leader. And as Arizona’s top defender, Allen likely will be tasked with stopping Bluiett.

“He’s as hard a playing guy as I’ve seen,” Miller said. “And he won’t let his team lose to some degree.”

Xavier effectively played some zone against Florida State, which has been most opponents’ strategy against Arizona.

Arizona does have answers. Trier is averaging 17.1 points, scoring 14 in the second half of a second-round win over Saint Mary’s. Markkanen, averaging 15.8 points, has 36 points on 11-of-18 shooting from the field in two tournament games.

Markkanen is shooting 43.3 percent from 3-point range (68 of 157) but has taken his game more to the paint offensively and defensively late in the season.

“I don’t know if there’s a freshman that’s playing in the NCAA Tournament that’s had a bigger impact on his team than Lauri has had on our team,” Miller said. “And as good of a basketball player is, he’s an even better kid.”

Purdue faces tough road vs. top-seeded Kansas

Stats, LLC

In a stereotypical big vs. small clash, the small is actually favored as No. 1 seed Kansas “hosts” No. 4 seed Purdue in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.

It’s listed as a neutral-site game, but Sprint Center is less than an hour from Allen Fieldhouse — the home of the Jayhawks — and the majority of the 18,972 in attendance likely will be clad in crimson and blue.

“We get a chance to play 35 miles away from Lawrence,” Kansas guard Frank Mason III said. “I think it’s just great for the fans and for us to get a chance to play there in the Sweet 16. We’re all so excited.”

Purdue is ready for the atmosphere.

“We know it’ll be hostile there, but we can draw energy from that,” center Isaac Haas said via Twitter. “Gotta put ourselves in best position possible.”

The two teams won their regular-season outright conference titles by multiple games. Purdue (27-7) won the Big Ten by two games while No. 3 Kansas (30-4) won the Big 12 by four games.

The Jayhawks start four guards, although two are Josh Jackson and Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, who both stand 6-foot-8. They get a majority of their scoring (more than 60 of their 83 points per game) from their four guards.

Purdue, meanwhile, depends heavily on its bigs, especially national player of the year candidate Caleb Swanigan, the double-double machine. He leads the NCAA with 28 double-doubles this season.

The Boilermakers also have 6-8 Vince Edwards (12.7 points per game) and the 7-2 Haas (12.6), creating matchup problems for Kansas. Swanigan is 6-9, 250 pounds, but he averages 18.5 points and 12.6 rebounds. He’s also a deft passer, averaging 3.0 assists.

Purdue leads the Big Ten and is 12th nationally with a scoring differential of 12.6 points per game. The Boilermakers are second in the Big Ten (13th nationally) in rebounding margin at 7.0.

Kansas boasts its own player of the year candidate in Mason, but he does his damage outside the post. He led the Big 12 in scoring at 20.8 points per game. The Jayhawks use two point guards, as Devonte’ Graham handles the ball as often as Mason.

Mykhailiuk is mostly a long-range threat for Kansas. He takes 63 percent of his shots from beyond 3-point range, connecting on 39.5 percent of them. But he’s not the only good shooter. The Jayhawks rank fifth in the country at 40.6 percent from 3-point range.

The matchup problem on Kansas’ roster is Jackson, one of the leading freshmen in the country. He’s averaging 16.6 points and 7.1 rebounds. His height makes him a tough matchup for opposing guards, and his athleticism makes him tough to guard for forwards.

Ironically, both teams reached this round by beating a team from their opponent’s conference. Purdue advanced with an 80-70 victory over Vermont. In the second round, the Boilermakers gave up a 19-point second-half lead, but rebounded to defeat Iowa State 80-76.

Kansas reached the Sweet 16 with convincing wins over UC Davis (100-62) and Michigan State (90-70).

Gonzaga wary of West Virginia's pressing defense

Stats, LLC

Gonzaga is bracing itself for the challenge West Virginia’s defense presents after looking at the results of the Mountaineers’ 83-71 win over Notre Dame in an NCAA Tournament second-round game last week.

The No. 1-seeded Bulldogs (33-1) play No. 4 West Virginia (28-8) in a West Regional semifinal game Thursday at San Jose, Calif. The winner advances to the Elite Eight to play the winner of Xavier-Arizona.

The Fighting Irish commit only 9.5 turnovers a game, which ranks second nationally. They almost turned the ball over that many times in the first half Saturday. They finished with 14 against the “Press Virginia” defense.

The turnovers are a cause for concern for Gonzaga, the top seed in the West Region, after the Bulldogs committed 13 turnovers in their 79-73 win over Northwestern in a second-round game. The Wildcats scored 17 points off turnovers in the second half to fuel a comeback.

“We got a little challenged at the other end and started making bonehead passes and bonehead decisions, and needed to just settle down,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “We were trying to make plays in small windows. And we’re not very good when we do that.”

West Virginia (28-8) leads the nation in turnovers forced with 20.1 per game. Opponents turn the ball over on 28 percent of their possession, which also tops the nation.

“That’s what we do,” West Virginia coach Bub Huggins said of the havoc his defense presents. “We try to make people play kind of the way we want them to play.”

Gonzaga point guard Nigel Williams-Goss will be important against the Mountaineers’ press. His ability to run the fast break or play at a steady pace should give the Bulldogs confidence.

Williams-Goss has a better than 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio with 161 assists and 72 turnovers. Josh Perkins, the other significant ball-handler, has less favorable numbers with 113 assists and 68 turnovers.

Williams-Goss said the Bulldogs know what it takes to handle the pressure West Virginia may present because their resiliency is shown with only one loss on the season.

“We don’t think of anything as pressure,” Williams-Goss said. “We had pressure all year long. We were undefeated and we didn’t feel any of that. This is what we live for, what we prepare for and we enjoy doing. We all enjoy competing at the highest level.”

West Virginia was only an overtime loss at Kansas away from sweeping the No. 1-seeded Jayhawks during the regular season.

Because the Mountaineers use the entire length of the court, Huggins employs a deep rotation with 10 players averaging at least 11 minutes played per game. Leading scorer Jevon Carter (13 points per game) is the only Mountaineer to play at least 30 minutes per game (31.7).

The Mountaineers are a team of athletes that lacks a center who matches up in size with Gonzaga’s post player Przemek Karnowski, who is 7-foot-1 and 300 pounds.

Carter and fellow guards Daxter Miles and Tarik Phillip combined for 54 points on 17-of-29 shooting from the field with nine rebounds, eight assists and three turnovers in the win over Notre Dame. They shot 7 of 10 from 3-point range and 13 of 15 from the free-throw line.

“All year we’ve been telling ourselves that we got the best group of guards in the country, and we truly believe that,” Carter said. “So, when it’s time for us to play, we go out there and give it our all. Sometimes it worked. But we’re going to put forth 100 percent and we’re going to live and die with it.”

Oregon next obstacle for Cinderella Michigan

Stats, LLC

There are two compelling stories heading into the NCAA Tournament Midwest Region matchup between Michigan and Oregon. The Wolverines and the Ducks face off in the first of two semifinals on Thursday night at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.

Michigan’s run through the Big Ten tournament, beginning with its team plane’s slide off the runway prior to the event, has been well-chronicled. But the No. 7 seed Wolverines (26-11) are not a fairy-tale story. They earned their way to Kansas City with gutsy victories over Oklahoma State and second-seeded Louisville in the first two rounds.

“There’s always going to be a lot of hype about what teams are getting most hype early, and it just doesn’t go away,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “The level of coaching in this league, the resources in this league, the level of talent in this league, it will come to the top at the end of the year.”

The Wolverines are confident heading into Kansas City to face the third-seeded Ducks (31-5). They seem to have that “it” that underdogs who make deep runs must have.

“I had no doubt in my mind, if it came down to the way it did, in the second half that we would be able to pull it out,” D.J. Wilson said about the victory over Louisville. “I think it just shows the versatility of this team. Our offense, it’s kind of like ‘pick your poison.’ Today, we didn’t knock down the 3 (3-point shot). We worked, and we did other things to put the ball in the hole, and it was effective.”

Michigan is a well-balanced team, with four players (Derrick Walton Jr., Zak Irvin, Moritz Wagner and Wilson) averaging between 11.0 and 15.4 points, and those same four players average between 4.1 and 5.3 rebounds per game.

Walton is the leader of the team, but the star of the first two rounds was Wagner, who scored a career-high 26 points, including a 3-pointer to give the Wolverines the lead for good against Louisville.

The other story is the return of Oregon coach Dana Altman to his Midwestern roots. Altman previously coached at Kansas State, two hours to the west of Thursday’s site. He also coached at Creighton, three hours to the north of Sprint Center. He even cut his teeth at Moberly (Mo.) Junior College, two hours to the east of Kansas City.

Altman is not coming to Kansas City empty-handed. He will bring some talented players with him. Forward Dillon Brooks is the Ducks’ leading scorer at 16.4 points per game. Even though he shot only 7 of 20 against Rhode Island in the second round, he still scored 19 points.

Oregon lost star center Chris Boucher to a season-ending injury in the Pac-12 Conference tournament, which has forced Oregon to play small. Brooks (6-foot-7) and Jordan Bell (6-9) make up the frontcourt. Guard Tyler Dorsey has recorded four straight games over 20 points, including 27 against the Rams.

Like most coaches, Altman is focused on the opposition, and he is impressed with Michigan.

“I didn’t really watch it,” Altman said of Michigan’s victory over Louisville in the second round. “I watched one of Michigan’s games in the Big Ten tournament, and wow! Beating Louisville with their athletes. … They’re hard to guard. What (Wagner) does offensively is really unique and special, and they’re an outstanding offensive team.”

Swanigan powers Purdue into Sweet 16

By JAY COHEN
AP Sports Writer

MILWAUKEE (AP) When Purdue needed him the most, when the Boilermakers were on the brink of a heartbreaking loss, Caleb "Biggie" Swanigan lived up to his nickname - over and over again.

Swanigan had 20 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists, and Purdue reached the Sweet 16 for the first time in seven years with a wild 80-76 victory over Iowa State on Saturday night.

The Cyclones erased a 19-point deficit in the second half, taking their first lead of the game on Deonte Burton's two free throws with 3:11 left. But P.J. Thompson responded with a critical 3-pointer for the Boilermakers, and Swanigan made several huge plays in the final minutes.

"It was an amazing game," Thompson said. "I thought we were pretty special tonight, at different moments we were really clutch when we needed to be. A lot of different guys made a lot of different plays tonight."

After Dakota Mathias missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 11 seconds left and Purdue clinging to a 78-76 lead, Swanigan tracked down the rebound to set up Thompson's free throws with 7 seconds remaining. Monte Morris missed a 3 on the other end, and time ran out for Iowa State.

Vince Edwards had 21 points and 10 rebounds for No. 4 seed Purdue (27-7), which will play the winner of Sunday's Michigan State-Kansas game on Thursday in Kansas City, Missouri. Isaac Haas finished with 14 points, helping the Boilermakers to a 23-5 advantage in bench points.

"I'm excited. I'm ready to get back to campus and get to work and watch the game tomorrow, Kansas-Michigan State, and see who is left," Swanigan said.

Swanigan's typically clipped response drew a smile from coach Matt Painter.

"That's great," a grinning Painter said. "That's all we get? That's beautiful."

Yup, Swanigan did all his talking with his play. It was the 28th double-double of the season for the Big Ten player of the year.

Fifth-seeded Iowa State (24-11) had won 10 of 11, moving to the brink of its third appearance in the Sweet 16 in four years. But it eventually ran out of gas against the bigger Boilermakers.

Burton scored 17 of his 25 points in the second half, putting on a show in his hometown of Milwaukee. Matt Thomas, another Wisconsin kid, had 20 points on 9-for-11 shooting, and Morris finished with 18 points and nine assists in the final game of his standout career.

"We didn't rebound that ball at the end," coach Steve Prohm said. "But you know, game like this you can look back at a lot of difficult things."

For a while, it looked as if Iowa State's storied senior class was headed for a rough ending.

Swanigan helped Purdue pull away at the start of the second half, showing off his well-rounded game. He found Mathias and Edwards for layups on backdoor cuts in the first minute. He made a 3-pointer and Edwards got loose for a dunk as the Boilermakers grabbed a 58-39 lead with 14:23 left.

But the Cyclones responded with a furious comeback, backed by a boisterous crowd filled with red and yellow. Two free throws by Burton and a jumper by Thomas tied it at 71 with 3:45 remaining.

"Once we got on that run, you know, we made things happen and we made it interesting," Thomas said. "We just were one or two plays short of capping that win off."

After Burton put Iowa State in front, Thompson rattled in his only 3-pointer of the game. Burton then missed a stepback jumper, and Swanigan and Edwards each scored to give Purdue some breathing room at 78-73 with 1:36 left.

"I kept trying to tell myself (to) stay poised, stay calm," Edwards said. "And we were all just talking out and kept telling each other we got this, we got this. We were able to stick it out and win."

WORTH NOTING

The Boilermakers shot 48.4 percent (31 for 64) and had 27 assists on 31 field goals. The Cyclones shot 50 percent, but Naz Mitrou-Long only had five points after averaging 15.4 coming into the game.

BIG PICTURE

Iowa State: Burton, Morris, Mitrou-Long and Thomas are all seniors. The Cyclones could take a step back next year after a very successful run.

Purdue: Haas looked more comfortable than he did in Purdue's first-round win against Vermont, going 6 for 8 from the field. But he only played 4 minutes in the second half.

NEXT UP

Purdue plays the winner of Sunday's Michigan State-Kansas game on Thursday in Kansas City, Missouri.

Leon, Robinson shine, Florida routs Virginia 65-39 in NCAAs

By MARK LONG
AP Sports Writer

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) For a team that puts so much energy and effort into defense, Florida's performance against Virginia was as close to perfect as possible.

Devin Robinson had 14 points and 11 rebounds, the fifth double-double of his career, and the fourth-seeded Gators handled the No. 5 seed Cavaliers 65-39 on Saturday night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Justin Leon added 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Gators (26-8), who advanced to the Sweet Sixteen for the 11th time in school history and fifth in the last seven years. They will play No. 8 seed Wisconsin in the East Regional in New York City on Friday.

They can thank stingy defense and a ridiculous run spanning halftime for this trip to Madison Square Garden.

"That's about as well as we've played defensively," Florida coach Mike White said. "We put a lot of it together tonight."

Florida held Virginia (23-11) to a season-low 17 points in the first half and 29.6 percent shooting on the night. The Cavaliers hadn't scored fewer than 40 points since December 2013, a 48-38 loss to the Badgers.

The turning point in this game came late in the first half, when the Gators started a 21-0 run that was their most lopsided of the season. Speedy guards Kasey Hill and Chris Chiozza repeatedly broke down Virginia's "pack line" defense, creating open looks for Leon and Robinson.

"We just had had to get them uncomfortable and play our tempo," said Robinson, who scored 24 points in his NCAA opener. "We knew if we played at their methodical tempo, it would have been a tough game for us. We tried to stay aggressive on defense and get in transition as best as we can, and that turned to great offense."

Florida closed the first half with a 12-0 spurt and built a 14-point lead at the break. The Gators came out of the locker room with the same intensity, scoring nine straight points that included two 3-pointers from Leon.

Virginia coach Tony Bennett called time out, but it was too little, too late.

The Gators were up 23 points against a team that has dealt with offensive challenges all season.

"If we're not shooting well, it's hard for us," Bennett said.

It surely didn't help that the Cavaliers played without forward Isaiah Wilkins, who missed the game while dealing with strep throat.

Wilkins leads the team in rebounds, blocks and steals, and Bennett called him the "heart and soul of our defense." Without him, the Gators attacked the post regularly, with Leon and Robinson benefiting.

BIG PICTURE

Virginia: The reason the Cavaliers failed to advance was obvious. Even they knew they would be doomed if leading scorer London Perrantes and fellow guard Marial Shayok stopped making shots, and they were. Perrantes was 2 of 12, and Shayok 2 of 9.

"We were trying to get something going, but it was one of those days where we couldn't do anything to get the shots to fall," Shayok said. "Obviously their defense bothered us, but we missed easy shots, wide-open shots. We missed a lot of shots we usually make. Nobody wants to lose like that. That was not good."

Florida: The Gators might be a handful moving forward because of their defensive prowess and number of scoring options.

GOING SHIRTLESS

There's little doubt that Leon is done wearing an undershirt. In an attempt to end a shooting slump, the senior went without a T-shirt under his jersey for the first time in two years at Florida.

"I was trying to find something different," he said. "So I did it, and hey."

PROMISING PART

Here's maybe the most promising part for Florida: Leading scorer KeVaughn Allen and Southeastern Conference Sixth Man of the Year Canyon Barry were quiet again. Allen had four points on 2-of-10 shooting, and Barry finished with seven points during a 1-for-4 night.

BOILING OVER

Perrantes chucked the ball at the scorer's table in frustration in the second half, but avoided a technical foul.

UP NEXT

Florida plays Wisconsin on Friday in Madison Square Garden.