No. 1 Wisconsin beats No. 8 Oregon, 72-65
OMAHA, Neb. — Forward Sam Dekker scored 17 points, and top-seeded Wisconsin never trailed in a 72-65 victory over eighth-seeded Oregon on Sunday in an NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional quarterfinal at Century Link Center Omaha.
Center Frank Kaminsky added 16 points, forward Nigel Hayes scored 14, and Wisconsin (33-3) eliminated Oregon (26-10) in the NCAA Tournament’s third round for the second consecutive season.
In 2014, the Badgers overcame a 12-point halftime deficit to defeat the Ducks 85-77 en route to the Final Four.
The Badgers advance to play North Carolina (26-11) on Thursday in Los Angeles.
Wisconsin needed no comeback this time, but it did have to withstand a significant challenge from playmaking guard Joseph Young, who led the Ducks with 30 points on 12-of-25 shooting. He scored 27 in Oregon’s second-round victory Friday over Oklahoma State.
Young, who didn’t score in the game’s first 10:39, hit a 3-pointer with 5:54 remaining to force a 52-52 tie, but Oregon, which trailed by as many as 11 points, never took the lead.
Guard Bronson Koenig (12 points) made one of two free throws to put Wisconsin back in front, and Kaminsky stole the ball underneath the Oregon basket, then later fed a cutting Dekker for a reverse layup.
After an Oregon turnover, Dekker hit a 3-pointer out of a timeout for a 58-52 Badgers lead with four minutes remaining, and the Ducks got no closer than four points thereafter.
Oregon made four more field goals than Wisconsin and shot a better percentage from the field (44.1 percent to 43.1 percent), but Wisconsin was 21-for-29 at the free-throw line, where Oregon was just 5-for-7.
Wisconsin built a 20-9 lead midway through the first half before settling for a 31-28 lead at the break.
Young had 14 first-half points, and he scored eight straight in a 10-3 Oregon run that pulled the Ducks within four points. He also scored Oregon’s final four points of the half but missed a 3-pointer in the final seconds that would have tied the score.
Hayes had 12 first-half points on 4-of-6 shooting for Wisconsin, which didn’t score over the final 2:11 before intermission.
NOTES: In its NCAA Tournament opener, Wisconsin set a school single-season wins record, eclipsing the previous high of 31 set in 2007-08. The Badgers won at least 30 games in four of the past nine seasons. … Oregon coach Dana Altman has 18 consecutive winning seasons as a head coach (13 at Creighton, five at Oregon). He is one of only seven active NCAA Division I coaches with an active streak at least that long. … Wisconsin is 10-0 this season when scoring 80 points. The Badgers also are 69-4 in 14 years under coach Bo Ryan when scoring 80-plus.
