Young Drills Game-Winner, Sends Ducks To Pac-12 Final

Friday, March 13

Las Vegas, Nev.

8:45 PM

University of Oregon

25-8

Utah (Semifinal)

24-8

Utah

Oregon

Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com

Young Drills Game-Winner, Sends Ducks To Pac-12 Final

03/14/15 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: GoDucks.com

by Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com

LAS VEGAS ? Joseph Young's three-pointer with 1.1 seconds left helped the Oregon men's basketball team beat No. 17 Utah on Friday in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, 67-64.

How It Happened: The game was tightly contested for the entire 40 minutes, with neither team leading by more than six points at any time. The sixth tie of the night was at 60-60, after the sixth three-pointer of the night by Utah's Brandon Taylor. Young then missed for the Ducks, but Elgin Cook tipped in the go-ahead bucket and added the and-one free throw. At the other end, Jordan Bell blocked two shots on the same possession, and Dwayne Benjamin followed with one of two free throws for a 64-60 lead.

Utah got back within two on two Dakarai Tucker free throws, and Young was called for a charge with 12 seconds left. Delon Wright hit another two free throws to tie the game at 64-64 with 7.2 seconds left, but Young took the ball up and drilled the winning three-pointer for Oregon.

The Ducks went into halftime down one, 31-30, somewhat remarkable given Oregon's .379 shooting, Utah's .550 shooting and the Utes' 17-11 edge on the boards. For the second night in a row, points off turnovers helped the UO men, who scored nine off Utah's 11 first-half turnovers to keep it close.

After the teams traded baskets from the outset, Utah crept out to a lead and was up 23-19 when baskets by Cook and Benjamin tied the score. The Utes pulled ahead again and were up 31-25 as the Ducks went several minutes without another field goal, but Young hit a three-pointer and Cook added a layin just before time expired to make it 31-30. Taylor, who had six points on 2-of-10 shooting in the Utes' loss in Eugene on Feb. 22, had 16 in the first half Friday, making 6-of-8 field goals and 4-of-5 three-point attempts.

Who Stood Out: Young finished with 26 points on 8-of-16 shooting. Dillon Brooks added 14 points and Cook scored 13.

What It Means: The Ducks will play Saturday for the fourth Pac-12 Tournament title in school history. Oregon previously claimed the crown in 2003, 2007 and 2013.

Odds and Ends: Young moved up to No. 2 on the UO single season scoring list. He passed Luke Ridnour (649/2003), Fred Jones (650/2002) and Luke Jackson (656/2004) during the Utah game. Young now has 669 points on the season, trailing only Terrell Brandon' 745 in 1991. ... Young also passed Charlie Warren (1,301/1959-62) for 17th on the UO career scoring list. Young finished the game with 1,312 points. ... With three blocks tonight, Oregon has tied the UO season record for blocked shots with 146. Oregon also blocked 146 shots during the 2012-13 season.The Ducks and Utes met in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals for the second time. Oregon beat Utah in 2013 on its way to the tournament title. ... Utah's 55 percent shooting in the first half made it three straight halves to open the tournament in which the Utes made at least half their shots. ... After coming off the bench against Colorado on Thursday, Bell returned to the starting lineup Friday and Benjamin came in off the bench.

Up Next: Oregon faces Pac-12 regular-season champion Arizona on Saturday (8:05 p.m. PT, ESPN).