Canzano: Oregon Ducks hit Pac-12 Tournament jackpot

N'Faly Dante and Dana Altman carry Ducks to NCAA Tournament.

N’Faly Dante holds the Pac-12 Tournament trophy overhead on Saturday. (Photo: Omer Khan)

LAS VEGAS — N’Faly Dante found himself alone at last on Saturday. In the closing seconds of the Pac-12 Conference Tournament title game, Oregon’s seven-foot center dribbled out the clock at T-Mobile Arena.

He looked around.

Ducks fans rose to their feet.

Then, Dante waited for the horn to sound and punctuated a remarkable week in Las Vegas with a thunderous dunk that left the basket swaying and confetti falling.

Oregon beat Colorado 75-68 in the conference championship game. Dante’s final dunk didn’t count. But it sure felt big, didn’t it? The Ducks are going to the NCAA Tournament. They were driven there by the dominant center who refused to lose.

Colorado coach Tad Boyle called Dante “a beast.” He was 12 for 12 shooting in the final Pac-12 title game. He scored 25 points. The last time the Buffaloes and Ducks played, Dante shot 10 for 10 from the field.

Said Boyle: “When he scores out of double teams I’m not sure what else can be done.”

Without Dante, Oregon doesn’t get out of the opening round of the conference tournament. The Ducks certainly don’t come from behind to upset Arizona in Friday’s semifinal. And they wouldn’t have had a chance against the Buffaloes on Saturday.

Dante was the easiest “Most Outstanding Player” vote I’ve ever cast from press row. He controlled both ends of the floor in the title game. And when you pair him with a future Hall of Fame coach such as Dana Altman, well, it’s something, isn’t it?

Said Altman: “Probably ought to get him the ball a little more...”

Altman has repeatedly said that this team — and this season — belongs to his two seniors: Dante and Jermaine Couisnard. Altman has said this season is about them, and cited their leadership.

Apologies to Couisnard, who was also named to the All-Tournament team, but he’s ‘Robin’ in this installment of ‘Batman and Robin.’

Las Vegas hasn’t been kind to Oregon in the last couple of seasons. Injuries were killers. The locker room chemistry wasn’t great. And Altman sounded so frustrated at the end of last season that I wondered if he was ready to throw in the keys.

I spoke with the Ducks’ coach on the telephone the day after last year’s season-ending loss in the NIT. The guy had coached the Ducks to a Final Four. Altman said: “We set the bar at Sweet 16’s.”

He spoke on that phone call about the support of Phil Knight and Pat Kilkenny, his two most trusted boosters. Those guys wrote the checks, provided chartered flights, and helped elevate the program’s profile.

I looked around the arena before the tip of the title game on Saturday against Colorado. Phil and Penny Knight were sitting behind Oregon’s bench, alongside one of their grandsons. Directly across the court, Kilkenny sat courtside beside former long-time UO assistant Tony Stubblefield.

It felt like old times, didn’t it?

Photo Gallery: Oregon beats Colorado in Las Vegas

Altman deserves credit for this season’s turnaround. He told me several weeks ago: “Our goal isn’t the NIT.” And yet, the coach found himself facing a third-straight NIT. Right up until UO won three games in three days this week.

Washington State’s Kyle Smith is the conference Coach of the Year. He did the best job, start to finish. But if the award existed, Altman would be the “Coach of the Tournament.” He out-schemed UCLA in the quarterfinals, then engineered a stunning comeback against Arizona in the semis, and then, smothered Colorado for the title.

Those same three opponents destroyed the second half of Oregon’s regular-season. Arizona beat the Ducks by 20 a couple of weeks before the Pac-12 Tournament. Colorado scored 79 points in Eugene on March 7. UCLA got 71 a couple of weeks before that.

What changed?

Altman said: “The attention to detail and communication. The defensive connection was better. We made fewer mistakes. And guys finished it off, and we’ve had trouble finishing.”

Oregon will wait for Selection Sunday to find out where it will play in the NCAA Tournament. But Saturday night was about cutting down nets and celebrating a trip to March Madness.

Dante carried them there.

Altman coached them there.

“Vegas has been good to us,” UO’s coach said.

---

Please consider a gift subscription for a friend or family member or the donation of a paid subscription for a senior on a fixed budget:

This is an independent reader-supported project with both free and paid subscriptions. Thank you for opting for a paid subscription. You are helping provide vital assistance to bolster my independent coverage.