Playing in the most important game of his life, Jordan Bell was marvelous. The Oregon junior scored 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting, blocked four shots in a game where no other player had more than one, and pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds.
Jordan Bell got Oregon to Final Four, eventually he’ll realize that
The Midwest Region’s Most Valuable Player will always be thinking about the two rebounds he didn’t get.
Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
Still, it’ll be the two rebounds that Bell didn’t grab that will haunt him forever.
Clinging to a 77-76 lead with just five seconds to play, North Carolina’s Kennedy Meeks missed two free throws. Instead of Oregon racing down the court for a potential game-winner, Theo Pinson was able to tap the offensive rebound back to Joel Berry, who was then sent back to the line. After Berry also missed a pair of freebies at the stripe, it was Meeks who came down with the offensive board to secure the victory and send North Carolina to its second consecutive national title game appearance.
Bell, Oregon’s lone force in the paint following the season-ending injury to Chris Boucher earlier this month, felt like it was his duty to grab those rebounds. He was inconsolable in the locker room after the game, answering questions while tears continued to stream down his face.
“I lost the game for us,” Bell said. “You play your ass off the whole year, and this was the moment that mattered. I didn’t do my job when it mattered. This will haunt me forever.”
While the loss may linger in Bell’s mind forever, eventually the realization of what he did over these last three weeks will set in with him in the same way that it has set in with the American public.
With Dana Altman forced to go with a four-guard lineup to have any degree of success in the NCAA tournament, he needed Bell to be an absolute monster. The NBA prospect was that and then some in the Big Dance, earning Midwest Regional MVP honors and notching a double-double in four of the Ducks’ five games. He finished the tournament with 66 points, 63 rebounds, and 12 blocked none shots.
None of this was any consolation for Bell on Saturday night, but eventually it will be.
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