Oregon’s win over Washington State was not a Pyrrhic victory.
The No. 4 seed Ducks saw center N’Faly Dante go down with a right ankle injury following a block with 28.5 seconds to go in their 75-70 win over No. 5 seed Washington State Thursday afternoon in a Pac-12 tournament quarterfinal at T-Mobile Arena. Dante, who had 16 points and 11 rebounds, was helped to the bench by Will Richardson and Jermaine Couisnard without putting any weight on his right foot but later left the court without a limp and said he was OK.
“I feel great,” Dante said afterword. “I just got to ice this, just a little twist. I’m fine.”
Oregon advances to face top-seeded UCLA in a semifinal on Friday thanks in large part to Dante, who made several critical late plays. He had a steal when the game was tied at 70, a put back to put UO ahead 72-70 and the block.
“Those were two really big defensive plays,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “He was worried about the turnover that he had, but the deflection and steal that he got and then the big block, I thought were really key for us.”
UO’s leader in points (13.6), rebounds (8.3), blocks (1.4) and field goal percentage (62.8%), Dante will be vital if Oregon is going to upset UCLA and advance to the conference tournament championship.
“Whatever I need to do, I don’t care,” Dante said. “I’m going to get ready tomorrow for my team. There’s no day off. At this point, I can’t do that.”
— James Crepea reported from Las Vegas
