GLENDALE, Ariz. — The sequence that vacillated between hope and despair, a crowd of 77,612 disbelieving what was unfolding one way or the other, started with an outstretched hand.

Oregon’s Jordan Bell held the position but North Carolina’s Theo Pinson had the moxie. The Ducks trailed the Tar Heels by one point in an NCAA tournament semifinal Saturday night at University of Phoenix Stadium and needed to grab a missed free throw and go the length of the court with only 5.8 seconds left.

Pinson timed his jump perfectly after teammate Kennedy Meeks’ free throw bounced off the front of the rim, tapping the ball to teammate Joel Berry II. The Ducks quickly wrapped up Berry, who missed his first free throw. And then his second.

Four consecutive missed free throws had opened the door in a nearly inconceivable way for the Ducks. North Carolina’s Kennedy Meeks closed it when he grabbed the rebound on Berry’s second miss, outmaneuvering Bell underneath the basket amid a scrum of players. Meeks flipped the ball to Pinson, who dribbled toward half court before hurling the ball into the air in triumph at the buzzer.

The Ducks quacked under the might of the moment and a more burly counterpart, falling to North Carolina, 77-76, in a game that will be cursed for eternity in the Pacific Northwest.

“I lost the game,” a despondent Bell said after his team had yielded 17 offensive rebounds. “I had it and I just lost it.”

North Carolina (32-7) advanced to play Gonzaga on Monday in its second consecutive appearance in the title game.

ben.bolch@latimes.com

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OREGON (33-6): Bell 5-7 3-5 13, Brooks 2-11 6-6 10, Dorsey 3-11 12-12 21, Pritchard 2-6 0-0 5, Ennis 7-19 2-2 18, Smith 2-2 0-0 4, Bigby-Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Benson 1-2 2-3 5. Totals 22-58 25-28 76.

NORTH CAROLINA (32-7): Hicks 1-12 0-0 2, Meeks 11-13 3-6 25, Pinson 2-8 3-4 8, Jackson 6-13 6-6 22, Berry 2-14 5-9 11, Maye 0-3 2-2 2, Bradley 1-2 0-0 2, Britt 2-3 0-0 5, S.White 0-0 0-0 0, Woods 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-68 19-27 77.

Halftime—North Carolina 39-36. 3-point goals—Oregon 7-26 (Dorsey 3-7, Ennis 2-9, Benson 1-2, Pritchard 1-5, Brooks 0-3), North Carolina 8-21 (Jackson 4-9, Berry 2-8, Britt 1-1, Pinson 1-2, Maye 0-1). Fouled out—Brooks. Rebounds—Oregon 42 (Bell 16), North Carolina 42 (Meeks 14). Assists—Oregon 7 (Ennis 3), North Carolina 16 (Pinson 5). Total fouls—Oregon 20, North Carolina 22. A—77,612 (72,220).