6A — BAKER CITY HERALD
TUESDAY, MARCH 30, 2021
NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
NCAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
USC eliminates Ducks in Sweet 16 Louisville ends
By Tim Booth
AP Sports Writer
Dana Altman was quick
to shoulder the blame. One
of Oregon’s ugliest offensive
performances of the season
came at the wrong time and
against an opponent the
Ducks knew all too well.
For the second time this
season, the Ducks lacked the
answers to solve Southern
California.
“First thing after the game
I told the team, ‘When you
lose, you lose together. I made
a mistake on personnel and I
didn’t have you ready for the
zone,’” Altman said. “And you
want your guys to look in the
mirror and say when they
don’t get something done.
“And as a coach, if you don’t
set that example, it’s pretty
hard for them to do it.”
Oregon’s season came to a
crashing halt with an 82-68
loss to USC in the West Re-
gion semifi nal Sunday night.
The Ducks were undone by
struggles at the offensive end
as they were unable to solve
the length and size presented
by the Trojans’ zone defense.
Since losing to USC in late
February, the Ducks (21-7)
had been rolling. Oregon
had won seven of the previ-
John McCoy/Getty Images-TNS
The USC Trojans, shown here against the Oregon Ducks
in a Feb. 22 game, won the rematch in the Sweet 16
round of the NCAA tournament on Sunday, March 28.
ous eight games, the only
loss coming to state rival
Oregon State in the Pac-12
Tournament. During that
eight-game stretch, the Ducks
were averaging nearly 80
points per game and had just
dropped a season-high 95
points on No. 2 seed Iowa in
the round of 32.
But that offensive punch
was absent against the
Trojans. Oregon’s lowest of-
fensive output of the season
came in its 72-58 loss to USC
on Feb. 22. And for much of
the night, it appeared the
Ducks might be on the verge
of some more ugly offensive
numbers.
“Their length really both-
ered us and got us off track,”
said Oregon forward Eugene
Omoruyi, who fi nished with a
game-high 28 points. “And we
just didn’t compete in the fi rst
half, which we should have
come out more aggressive.
But yeah, their length really
affected us in our offense.”
Omoruyi and Chris Duarte
carried the Ducks’ offense.
Duarte added 21 points and
the top two scorers all season
for the Ducks combined for 17
of Oregon’s 26 made shots.
What the Ducks lacked
was the supporting cast,
which had been so important
to their success during the
season. Oregon’s other three
starters — LJ Figueroa, Will
Richardson and Eric Williams
Jr. — were a combined 5 of
27 shooting and had 11 total
points. Figueroa and Richard-
son had a combined 40 points
by themselves in the victory
over Iowa.
“Eric took some tough
shots that fi rst half. LJ just
never seemed to get comfort-
able. Will had been scoring
well,” Altman said. “The
zone didn’t allow us to move
the ball. Some of the shots
early off the dribble I thought
took some guys out of their
rhythm.”
Despite the offensive is-
sues, the Ducks had a chance
late to put pressure on the
Trojans. After trailing by 21
midway through the second
half, the Ducks pulled within
69-60 with 3:52 left. But
Tahj Eaddy answered with a
3-pointer for USC and ended
Oregon’s comeback bid.
“We were going to compete
to the end no matter what,”
Omoruyi said.
Gonzaga routs Creighton to stay unbeaten
“I don’t think we have
peaked,” he said. “I think, as
INDIANAPOLIS — Gon- I said earlier, we can always
zaga guard Andrew Nemb-
get better. We can always
hard believes he still has
work on our stuff. So I think
room to improve.
we’re getting close, and we
The scary part is, he
need to squeeze out that
thinks that also might be
fi ve percent that we talked
true for the undefeated
about.”
Bulldogs.
It’s hard to imagine the
Nembhard had 17 points
Bulldogs (29-0) could play
and eight assists, both sea-
much better.
son highs, to keep the NCAA
They extended their
Tournament’s top overall
school-record winning streak
seed rolling Sunday, March
to 33, the Division I record
28, with a 83-65 rout of fi fth- for consecutive double-digit
seeded Creighton in the West wins to 26 and reached the
Region semifi nals. After-
Elite Eight for the fourth
ward, he insisted nobody was time in six years. Next up is
satisfi ed.
Tuesday’s West regional fi nal
By Michael Marot
AP Sports Writer
against sixth-seeded South-
ern California, an 82-68
winner over seventh-seeded
Oregon.
Some of Gonzaga’s usual
stars were content with sup-
porting roles Sunday.
Second-team All-American
Drew Timme led the way
with 22 points, six rebounds
and four assists as the Zags
shot 59.6% from the fi eld
against a foe that led the Big
East in defensive fi eld goal
percentage. Joel Ayayi added
13 points and eight rebounds.
First-team All-American
Corey Kispert scored 12
points and Timme’s fellow
second-teamer Jalen Suggs
Blazers top Raptors, 122-117
By Dick Scanlon
Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. — Damian Lillard helped
Portland surge ahead in the third quarter.
CJ McCollum fi nished the job in the closing
minutes.
McCollum scored seven of his 23 points in
the fi nal two minutes and the Trail Blazers
beat the Toronto Raptors 122-117 on Sunday
night, March 28.
Lillard had 22 points and 11 assists for the
Blazers, who took command of their third
straight win — all on the road — by holding
Toronto to 10 points in the third quarter.
“I thought we did a good job on their two
guys most of the night, but we couldn’t get
by that dry quarter,” Raptors coach Nick
Nurse said. “The biggest thing was the
turnovers. We couldn’t quite handle the
physicality.”
Pascal Siakam fi nished with 26 points and
eight rebounds, and Fred VanVleet added 20
points and eight assists for Toronto, which
lost for the 11th time in 12 games. The Rap-
tors shot 4 for 22 with fi ve turnovers in the
third quarter.
The game was played three days after the
trade deadline move in which the Raptors
sent Norman Powell to the Blazers for Gary
Trent Jr. and Rodney Hood.
Lillard, who sat out Friday night’s win at
Orlando with a left knee contusion, joined
Powell in Portland’s three-guard starting
lineup, which didn’t get a long look.
“Norman got two quick fouls and we only
played about four minutes in that stretch
with that group,” Portland coach Terry Stotts
said. “But we’ll play that lineup. It’s just a
matter of when and where and what the
matchups are.”
Derrick Jones Jr., bumped from the lineup,
scored Portland’s fi nal seven points of the
fi rst half, but Hood’s 3-pointer at the buzzer
gave Toronto a 74-68 halftime edge.
Jones fi nished with 16 points and three
rebounds in 21 minutes.
“He really had an impact on the game in
the second half,” Stotts said.
The Raptors led 82-75 when Siakam
scored on a short jumper with 6:27 left in the
third quarter. But Toronto was held scoreless
for nearly six minutes.
“We felt like a really good defense in that
third quarter. We were out there communi-
cating and working things out. It was good to
have (Powell) out there,” said Lillard. “Typi-
cally, we do well with three-guard lineups,
and he’s a physical guard.”
A steal and a dunk by Powell put the Blaz-
ers ahead 83-82, and Lillard scored seven
points in a 16-2 run that closed the third
quarter with Portland leading 91-84.
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fi nished with nine.
Defensively, the Zags held
Creighton to 40 points over
the fi nal 30 minutes as they
methodically turned a 27-25
game into a blowout. Gon-
zaga never trailed, led 43-33
at halftime and spent most of
the second half pulling away.
Oregon’s season
By Doug Feinberg
AP Basketball Writer
SAN ANTONIO — Dana Evans broke out of a shooting
slump in a big way, carrying Louisville to the Elite Eight.
The senior All-America guard matched her career high
with 29 points and the No. 2 seed Cardinals advanced to
the regional fi nal of the women’s NCAA Tournament for
the third straight time with a 60-42 win over sixth-seeded
Oregon on Sunday, March 28.
“I knew it would end at the right time, when I needed it
to,” Evans said. “My teammates didn’t need me to do what
I did tonight in the other games. Everybody has been
stepping up. I think everything happens for a reason. My
teammates were able to get their confi dence and get going
and now that I feel like that I’m back to my normal self, I
feel like we’re going to be just fi ne.”
Evans had struggled late in the season and hadn’t
played well in the fi rst two games of the tournament. She
hadn’t scored more than 15 points in any of the fi ve ACC
or NCAA Tournament games before Sunday.
She said former Louisville great Asia Durr had reached
out to her over the last few days.
“She sent me a nice text just telling me to just relax, let
the game come to me and don’t overthink it,” Evans said.
“I took her words, and it worked.”
The Cardinals will face top seed Stanford on Tuesday
night in the Alamo Region fi nal.
Louisville (26-3) continued its stellar defensive play,
holding Oregon (15-9) to 14 points in the fi rst half, includ-
ing six in the second quarter.
Evans provided the offense. After going scoreless in the
fi rst quarter, she started to heat up. Oregon had freshman
Maddie Scherr guarding Evans in the opening period
before she hurt her ankle and had to come out of the
game. Evans responded by scoring 13 points in the second
and ended the period with a nifty drive and dish right
before the buzzer to give Louisville a 29-14 advantage at
the break.
Oregon rallied in the second half, cutting its defi cit to
10 after three quarters. The Ducks were down 41-33 with
50 seconds left in the third after two free throws by Nyara
Sabally. But she went down with a left ankle injury 20
seconds later when she stepped on a teammate’s foot.
Sabally had to be helped off the court. She didn’t return
and fi nished with a team-leading 14 points.
The Ducks got within 43-37 early in the fourth quarter,
but seven straight points by Evans — including two deep
3-pointers — started a 13-0 run that put the game away.
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