LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Time seemed to slow down as Joseph Young’s desperation shot started its trajectory.
“We’re making the tournament,” Young said to a media scrum just under a month ago. “I just want to get that out right now.”
No one took him seriously, it was just overconfident fodder.
And yet, here Young was – having carried his team to an 11-1 finish to end the season and all but guaranteeing Oregon a spot in the NCAA Tournament – with his trademark three point shot headed to a basket lit up by red trimming.
Swoosh.
Joseph Young delivered the biggest shot of his career as Oregon men’s basketball upended No. 3 seed Utah 67-64 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Friday night in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals.
“It’s something you practice every day,” Young said. “I just stepped up and made the shot.”
What made Young’s moment even more spectacular was the sequence of events that led up to it.
Oregon was clinging to a 64-62 lead with 44 seconds remaining and the ball. Young drained the shot clock at the top of the key, then drove to his left, where he was cut off by three Utah defenders.
The senior guard couldn’t slow his motion and lowered his shoulder into a Utah defender, prompting an offensive foul that gave the Utes a chance to tie or win the game with 12 seconds left on the clock.
Delon Wright took the inbound pass and charged up court. Jordan Bell slid out to stop Wright’s momentum, but made a bit too much contact and was called for a foul, giving Wright the chance to tie the game at the free throw line.
Wright calmly sunk the the two free throws.
Then, with 7.2 seconds remaining, Young took the inbound pass, dribbled up the court and beat the buzzer, giving the Ducks their second win over the Utes in under a month.
Young led all scorers with 25 points. Utah’s Wright tallied 16 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals.
But for all intents and purposes, Young ended the debate over which player should have won the Pac-12 Player of the Year award with his cold-blooded three pointer.
“I commend my team,” Young said. “I had the turnover at the end, but my team didn’t give up on me, kept their composure.”
Young’s heroics were part of yet another second half comeback against a quality opponent for Oregon.
Utah’s Brandon Taylor – who finished with 24 points on 9-15 shooting and 6-9 from three point range – lit the Duck defense up with three 3-pointers in the game’s opening moments, leading his team to a 55 percent clip in the first half.
But when Oregon started to figure things out offensively in the second half, its defense followed suit.
The Ducks were held to a 37.9 percent shooting mark in the first half, but shot 58.3 percent in the second half. Oregon’s defense held Utah to just 36.7 percent shooting.
Oregon’s athletic forwards Dillon Brooks and Elgin Cook pitched in 14 and 13 points, respectively, and provided two serious scoring threats in the paint against Utah seven-footer Jakob Poeltl.
“We kept pushing, kept going to the basket,” Brooks said. “Even if they closed on us with three or four guys, we just got to do like coach told us before the game.”
While tonight’s performance seemed like an exclamation point to the 2014-15 season, the Ducks didn’t seem like they were satisfied just participating in the Pac-12 Championship game.
Of course, winning the tournament means beating the best: No. 1 seeded Arizona, which has already beaten Oregon twice this season by double-digits.
“I didn’t lead my team at that time,” Young said. “But now I think we’re more as a team, more as a family.”
Whether they’re ready or not, Oregon will be headed into a heavy pro-Arizona crowd at the MGM Grand tomorrow night.
Follow Josh Schlichter on Twitter @joshschlichter