Another dramatic Dillon Brooks shot keeps Oregon in Pac-12 title hunt

If Dillon Brooks wasn’t already in the running for first-team All-American honors prior to Wednesday night, the Oregon forward probably should be now.

Brooks spearheaded an impressive second-half rally at Cal and capped the comeback with his second buzzer-beating 3-pointer of the past two months.

Even though Brooks has a reputation for clutch shots late in games, Cal did not send two players at him when he took a dribble handoff near mid-court with five seconds left in a tie game. Brooks made the Bears pay, creating space with a crossover dribble and then burying the game winner over Stephen Domingo’s outstretched hand to give Oregon a 68-65 road victory.

Seventeen of Brooks’ game-high 22 points came in the second half even though he picked up his third foul with 15 minutes to play and his fourth five minutes later. The 6-foot-7 junior managed to avoid getting whistled for a fifth, fortuitous for Oregon considering he scored seven of the Ducks’ final nine points.

Brooks’ heroics were only part of the reason Oregon was able to recover from an anemic 16-point first half and storm back from a deficit that ballooned as high as 16 just after halftime. Forward Chris Boucher also added 18 second-half points including a layup to give the Ducks’ their first second-half lead and Oregon’s disruptive defense forced eight second-half turnovers including several big ones late in the game.

Oregon’s victory keeps the sixth-ranked Ducks (25-4, 14-2) in contention for a second consecutive Pac-12 title and the chance to stay in the geographically favorable West Region in the NCAA tournament. They trail Arizona (25-3, 14-1) by just a half game, and the fourth-ranked Wildcats have the tougher remaining schedule.

Two road games at middling Stanford and bottom-feeding Oregon State remain for Oregon before the Pac-12 tournament. Arizona, on the other hand, has home games left against USC and UCLA before a regular season-ending visit to Arizona State next week.

The implications are nowhere near as cheerful for Cal (18-9, 9-6), which squandered a huge chance to solidify its NCAA tournament hopes with a marquee home victory. A Bears team that prides itself on having an elite defense surrendered 52 second-half points to Oregon, 35 to Brooks and Boucher alone.

But long after everyone forgets the NCAA tournament implications of Oregon’s latest win, they’ll still be talking about the shot-making ability of the Ducks’ crunch-time hero. Wednesday night’s buzzer beater rivaled the 3-pointer he sank to beat UCLA on opening night in the Pac-12 in late December.

Hampered by a foot injury that sidelined him until Thanksgiving and left him rusty until Christmas, Brooks has really come on since conference play began. The Canada native has averaged 17.7 points in Pac-12 play and has scored no fewer than 18 points in any of his past seven games.

What makes Brooks so tough to stop is that he’s a mismatch at either forward spot. He can decimate opposing power forwards who can’t stay in front of him off the dribble or guard him out to the perimeter. He’s also a nightmare for smaller, quicker wings who can’t handle him in the post.

Brooks may have gotten rolling a little late to reenter the national player of the year conversation, but he is the top challenger to UCLA’s Lonzo Ball for Pac-12 player of the year and a legit threat to win All-America honors too.

Two months ago, Brooks sank UCLA with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. Now Brooks has done the same to Cal too.

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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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