The final six seconds of Saturday night’s North Carolina-Oregon game were kind of stunning. The Tar Heels were up, 77-76, when they were sent to the charity stripe. Despite missing four straight free throws, North Carolina secured two huge offensive rebounds to get the win. This gave Roy Williams’ squad the opportunity to play for a national championship on Monday.
Both of the offensive rebounds came at the expense of Oregon’s Jordan Bell. While he was fantastic all tournament, sports are unfair, so plenty of people will remember that Bell had the chance to bring in both of the late-game rebounds to no avail. After the game, the Ducks’ junior forward was beyond distraught as he met with the media and took the blame for the way the game ended.
Jordan Bell gives an emotional postgame interview after Oregon's loss in the #FinalFour#Pac12SR is LIVE: https://t.co/ZLABag9Ytt pic.twitter.com/0r0WvtHz7P
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) April 2, 2017
“If I would have just boxed out,” Bell said. “I had two opportunities to do it. I missed both of them. We lost the game because of it.”
This is just brutal to watch. Bell had 16 rebounds on Saturday and averaged 13.2 boards per game for the tournament. His play was a huge reason why Oregon even made it to the Final Four. But this seems like this is going to weigh on him for a long, long time.
Bell also went onto Twitter after the game and apologized to Oregon fans.
I am so sorry….
— Jordan Bell (@1jordanbell) April 2, 2017
Between this and De’Aaron Fox’s emotional response to Kentucky getting bounced in the Elite Eight, this tournament has featured some big names being moved to tears. Even though Fox is probably about to go really, really high in the 2017 NBA Draft and Bell may have one more chance to win a national championship in 2018, these moments once again prove how important March Madness is to everyone.
