Game-winners are starting to become a habit for Dillon Brooks.
The Oregon star drilled a dagger three at the buzzer Wednesday night to give the Ducks a 68-65 win over the California Bears (18-9, 9-6) in Berkeley.
Dillon Brooks does it again!! pic.twitter.com/faZZ3tcmsl
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) February 23, 2017
Brooks’ winning jumper was the exclamation point on a furious Oregon comeback that featured a little luck and plenty of clutch shooting. The Ducks trailed by as many as 15 in the second half before embarking on a 28-12 scoring run that started at the 10 minute mark, and ended when Chris Boucher scored on a backdoor layup to give Oregon its first lead of the game with 1:51 remaining.
The Ducks’ comeback effort was largely sparked by scoring efforts of Boucher. The Duck senior didn’t score a point in the first half before unleashing an 18 point outburst in the second half that included three 3-pointers. Late 3-pointers by Boucher and Payton Pritchard kept the Ducks afloat as the Ducks struggled to find offensive consistency.
The Ducks shot just 7-of-21 from deep, and two of those 3-pointers came from Brooks. With just under a minute left in regulation, Brooks drilled a fading turnaround jumper that gave the Ducks a 64-63 lead. Cal’s Jabari Bird missed a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession, and Tyler Dorsey hit 1-of-2 free throws for the Ducks to give Oregon a two point lead.
Cal star forward Ivan Rabb tied the score ay 65-65 with a put-pack layup, and then Brooks went to work. His last shot on Wednesday was eerily similar to another game-winning jumper he hit earlier in the season against UCLA, and came on nearly an identical play.
Brooks finished with a game-high 22 points on 9-of-18 shooting for the Ducks, and Dylan Ennis chipped in 13. Bird finished with 20 points and nine rebounds for Cal.
The Ducks will finish out their Bay Area trip when they face Stanford on Saturday, and then take a week off before their regular season finale at Oregon State on March 4.
Follow Jarrid Denney on Twitter @jarrid_denney
