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Wisconsin advances to Sweet 16 with tight win over Oregon

kevin kaduk

The team's rhythm seemed off and the shots weren't falling, but top-seeded Wisconsin is advancing to its second straight Sweet 16 anyway after a 72-65 win over eighth-seeded Oregon on Sunday night.

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Though it never trailed in the game, Wisconsin had plenty of reasons to sweat as it struggled to put the Ducks away. The Badgers shot poorly from behind the three-point line (8-23) and national player of the year candidate Frank Kaminsky was far from dominant with a fairly pedestrian 16-point, seven-rebound effort.

Couple that with 30 points from star Oregon guard Joseph Young  and an upset alert was put out across the sport with the game tied at 52 with just 5:55 remaining.

Wisconsin, however, responded with a 10-2 run to avoid the fate that befell Villanova against North Carolina State on Saturday night. After scoring just three points in the first half, Badgers forward Sam Dekker scored 14 in the second including a big driving layup and a 3-pointer that gave Wisconsin a six-point lead with 4:01 left.

"They made it tough for us," Dekker told Lewis Johnson of CBS after the game.

The Badgers are advancing to their seventh Sweet 16 since 2003 under Bo Ryan. They will face fourth-seeded North Carolina on Thursday at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The winner of that game will face the winner of Xavier-Arizona.

The matchup came one year to the day that Wisconsin and Oregon met before a pro-Badger crowd in Milwaukee during the round of 32. The Badgers also won that game 85-77 en route to the FInal Four.

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Kevin Kaduk is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at kevinkaduk@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!