Three freshman starters help OR women’s basketball team to Sweet 16

Derrick Walton Jr.is the known catalyst that stirs the drink for one of the biggest surprise teams in the bracket and perhaps most importantly, the X-factor in Zak Irvin has set aside his inconsistencies throughout his career, pushing for one last run in his final season in Ann Arbor. I’ve seen him make that shot thousands of times, so I had confidence in him knocking it down.

OR defeated MI 69-68 in the Sweet 16 on Thursday at Sprint Center when Michigan’s Derrick Walton Jr. missed a long jumper at the buzzer that would have won it. It was a terrific ride.

Derrick Walton Jr. took the final shot. There was no shame in missing.

The 2017-18 season will probably serve as finales for Wagner and Wilson, who gained national attention while playing Oklahoma State, Louisville and OR during March Madness. As for the Wolverines, they are advancing by hairs. OR managed to stay on the referees’ good side and limit the Wolverines to 7-of-7 shooting from the charity stripe.

The Ducks, in their first tournament since 2005, had never advanced past the second round in their 12 previous appearances. Mitchell had a strong first half, helping Louisville take a 36-28 lead into halftime. The Wolverines are arguably the hottest team in all of college basketball at the moment. Early on it looked like the Wolverines were going to literally give the game away due to their inability to hold onto the ball.

It was fitting it was just a two-point lead for OR at the half. It triggered a back-and-forth ending as the game ultimately saw 16 lead changes and eight ties.

OR was a bit undersold entering the game.

Fortunately for the Ducks, their actual freshmen are playing far beyond their ages. MI forced the Ducks into several fade-away jump shots … on the other end OR protected the rim well. There is a reason he was the Pac-12 player of the year. He’s since reached three NCAA tournaments and gone 4-2 in the Big Dance. Oregon’s Tyler Dorsey matched it at the other end. In fact, OR coach Dana Altman was yelling for his team to foul, according to reporters on the scene, but the Ducks didn’t do as instructed. While Brooks went cold on Friday, Dorsey finished with 20 points, going 5-for-7 from 3-point range and hitting the go-ahead basket for the second game in a row after he beat Rhode Island with a late three. They led by six.

The senior guard scored more than 20 points in four of their seven postseason games. OR then got up by five. MI looks unbeatable. Purdue took out Iowa State, one of the hottest teams in the country.

The best shot of the tournament that wasn’t.

Get this: MI made 25 shots on 58 attempts. It’s like a 2-for-3 exchange. Limiting the free points for Kansas will go a long way, but the Ducks also have to win the battle on the boards. That was particularly true when OR went to a man-to-man defense during the second half. But the results weren’t close to what his previous MI teams had achieved. The Wolverines were unrelenting in that regard throughout the season, even during the toughest times, like when they began the Big Ten season with six losses in 10 games.

MI and their head coach John Beilein was fine sacrificing some offensive rebounding to help bolster their transition defense. Pictured: Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman and D.J. Wilson celebrate as Ray Spalding looks on during the second round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse on March 19, 2017 in Indianapolis. Every team needs leadership, and they were certainly adequate during 2016-17. Robinson missed a chance to tie with another in and out triple, and OR scored at the other end.