Dante makes hook shot with 37 seconds left and Oregon holds off UCLA 68-66 in Pac-12 tourney

Mar 14, 2024, 08:24 pm

LAS VEGAS -- — N’Faly Dante scored 22 points, including a jump hook with 37 seconds left, for his fourth 20-plus game of the season and No. 4 seed Oregon held off a late rally to beat No. 5 seed UCLA 68-66 on Thursday in the Pac-12 Tournament.

Oregon (21-11) advances to play top seed and sixth-ranked Arizona in the semifinals on Friday. The Ducks dropped both meetings with the Wildcats this season, most recently a 103-83 defeat on March 2 in the last Pac-12 game at Arizona's McKale Center.

Dante got a friendly bounce on the baseline hook shot for a 65-62 lead and he nearly blocked a shot at the other end, but Dylan Andrews sank a floater with 11.1 seconds left.

Oregon and UCLA traded free throws, before Jackson Shelstad went 1 of 2 at the stripe to make it 68-66. UCLA, without a timeout, went the length of the court but Andrews’ shot hit the back of the rim as time expired.

Shelstad finished with 12 points for Oregon. Jadrian Tracey, Jermaine Couisnard and Kario Oquendo each added 10.

Andrews was 10 of 21 from the field for 24 points to lead UCLA (16-17). Sebastian Mack added 16 points and Adem Bona was held to eight points in 17 minutes due to foul trouble.

Bona, a 6-foot-10 forward, was called for his third foul with 15:40 left in the second half, and his fourth came at 10:14 with UCLA trailing 50-47.

Oregon opened the second half on an 8-2 run to take its first lead, 37-36, since it was 8-7. Oquendo's 3-pointer at 16:16 put the Ducks ahead for good.

Oregon took the first double-digit lead of the game, 63-53, with 4:13 left on Shelstad’s wide-open layup, off a nice pass from Dante. But the Ducks would not score again until Dante's hook shot in the closing seconds.

Andrews’ steal and fast-break layup capped UCLA’s 9-0 run to get within 63-62 with 1:34 to play. Oregon made just enough free throws down the stretch to hold off the Bruins.

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