Ducks Take Fight To Badgers In NCAA Tournament Loss

Sunday, March 22

Omaha, Neb.

4:45 PM

University of Oregon

26-10

Wisconsin (3rd Round)

33-3

Oregon

Wisconsin

Ducks Take Fight To Badgers In NCAA Tournament Loss

03/23/15 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: GoDucks.com

by Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com

OMAHA, Neb. — Oregon's basketball season came to a thrilling, and also frustratingly familiar end Sunday evening, as the Ducks lost 72-65 to Wisconsin in a third-round NCAA Tournament game at CenturyLink Center. The Badgers eliminated the Ducks in the round of 32 for the second year in a row.

How It Happened: Trailing the entire first half, Oregon mounted a furious comeback to tie the game in the final six minutes before falling. Dwayne Benjamin's three-pointer with 5:53 tied the score at 52-52, the first time all night the Ducks weren't trailing. But the Badgers scored the next six points, and Oregon couldn't get closer than four the rest of the way.

The Ducks (26-10) trailed 45-37 with 10:45 to play, before fighting their way back into it. Joseph Young scored to start a 10-3 run that was capped by two Jalil Abdul-Bassit three-pointers, the second getting Oregon within 48-47. Young answered two Wisconsin free throws with another basket, and after two more free throws by the Badgers, Benjamin hit his game-tying three. But Sam Dekker got hot for Wisconsin, scoring twice as the Badgers opened up a 58-52 advantage.

A year after leading by a dozen after the first half against the Badgers, the Ducks trailed 31-28 at halftime Sunday but felt good about the first 20 minutes. With Elgin Cook saddled by foul trouble, Young scored 14 points. Jordan Bell blocked three shots as Oregon limited Wisconsin to 44 percent shooting, and the Ducks had an 18-15 edge on the boards. At that point the Badgers had only three offensive rebounds, and three second-chance points.

Wisconsin got out in front early, leading 10-5 on a Frank Kaminsky bucket and pushing it to 16-9 on another basket by the national player of the year candidate. The lead was 20-9 before Young got going, scoring eight straight for the Ducks, who got within 23-19 on a basket by Bell. Wisconsin led 31-24 late in the half, but Young scored the final five points before halftime and missed a potential game-tying three-pointer on the last possession.

Who Stood Out: Young's 30 points gave him 745 as a senior, tied for the most in UO single-season history. Bell blocked four shots for the second straight game, becoming Oregon's career leader in blocks during NCAA Tournament play with eight. Abdul-Bassit added 12 points in his final game for the Ducks.

What It Means: Oregon saw its season end in the round of 32 for the second straight year, though the Ducks advanced at least that far for the third year in a row, a program record.

Odds and Ends: Though Young tied Terrell Brandon with the most points in UO single-season history, Brandon reached 745 in 28 games during the 1990-91 campaign. ... Young finished with 1,388 points in his two seasons with the Ducks, also the highest two-year total in the program's history. ... That total left Young at 16th on the career scoring list, just behind Luke Ridnour (1,399 points, 2000-03). ... Young's 265 field goals in 2014-15 are second-most in UO single-season history behind Brandon's 273 from 1990-91.