KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ The shot was there but the magic was gone.
Trailing by a point in the final seconds, Michigan's Derrick Walton Jr. had a clean look on a 3-pointer to win the Sweet 16 and push the Wolverines along.
But it bounced off, the game ended and Michigan's impressive NCAA postseason run was over, losing to No. 3 seed Oregon, 69-68 in the Midwest Regional at the Sprint Center on Thursday night.
No. 7 seed Michigan (26-12), which entered winning 12 of 14 games, leaned heavily on its senior stars and Walton and Zak Irvin delivered until that shot.
Walton finished with 20 points, Irvin with 19 and they carried U-M down the stretch, willing the Wolverines back into the game.
But after U-M had a three-point lead with two minutes to play, at 68-65, Oregon (32-5) surged to take it back and the combination of a missed 3-pointer by D.J. Wilson and Walton's final shot ended the season.
Yet every time they appeared down, Michigan rose.
After leading most of the second half, Oregon looked comfortable with its five point margin down the stretch. Michigan couldn't get over the hump.
But Walton and Irvin weren't going out like that.
They began trading jumpers in the final four minutes, pushing the Wolverines out to a three-point lead with two minutes to play.
Oregon surged back to grab the lead _ the 16th and final one of the game with a minute to play.
Michigan was determined to go on or go home with the 3-ball.
Nine of their first 12 shots came from three-point range and 17 of the 31 in the second half.
Shooting 35.3 percent from long range just wasn't enough.
Michigan's story captivated the nation during the postseason from the moment of their plane evacuation on March 8 through their Big Ten tournament title run and opening weekend in Indianapolis.
But they marched through the seven-game winning streak, the Wolverines proved worthy of the respect on the court, not just the storyline off it.
The season was always going to be defined by Walton and Irvin. When Michigan sat 4-6 in the Big Ten early in February, Walton became a next-level player, one of the hottest in the country and Irvin, the previous stalwart, was glad to be the supporting player, improving his defense along the way.
The Wolverines' unique chemistry and unselfishness reflected their leaders and defined their late-season push.
Playing step for step with one of the nation's elite teams showed the Wolverines' resolve.
Even as both teams struggled in the first half, Walton remained brilliant. On Michigan's first eight baskets, Walton hit two threes and assisted on the other six. By halftime he had 11 points, two rebounds and seven assists, a few which were full of juice.
But for the second straight game, Michigan trailed at the break 35-33.
Mostly because, as good as Walton was, Moe Wagner was a mess, far from the dominant force in the second round against Louisville. He was 2 of 8 at the half, 0 for 3 from long range, and some of the misses were ugly. He finished with only seven points.
In its first two NCAA wins, the Wolverines cranked up the offense after halftime.
They knew they'd need it one more time to reach the Elite Eight _ or else the run was over.
