Ducks' Dance Card Features Familiar Pairing, Location
03/17/19 | Men's Basketball, @GoDucksMoseley
Oregon will face its 2014 and 2015 NCAA Tournament foil, Wisconsin, in San Jose, Calif., on Friday (1:30 p.m. PT, TBS).
The CBS broadcast revealing this year's NCAA Tournament field began Sunday with the East Region. When the 7-10 matchup was queued up, Oregon senior Paul White and a couple of his teammates sat forward in their chairs inside the Founder's Club at Matthew Knight Arena, sensing the Ducks could see their name called.
That wasn't the pairing that included the UO men, who had earned the Pac-12's automatic bid by winning the conference tournament the night before, with a 20-point blowout of Washington in Las Vegas. But the Ducks wouldn't have to wait much longer. And boy, would it be worth the wait.
Oregon will open the 2019 NCAA Tournament on the West Coast, with an extra day of rest, when the Ducks face Wisconsin on Friday in San Jose, Calif. The UO men are the No. 12 seed in the South Region, and will face the fifth-seeded Badgers, who lost Saturday to Michigan State in the Big Ten semifinals.
The Ducks (23-12) and Badgers (23-10) met in the second round of the tournament in both 2014 and 2015, with Wisconsin winning both, in Milwaukee and then Omaha, Neb. This time they play in San Jose, where Oregon won as a No. 12 seed in 2013, against Oklahoma State.
"For all things considered — the four games we just played, finals (coming up this week), and just a little time to travel — I think it is good for us," UO coach Dana Altman said. "It'll be a real tough four-team tournament for us."
The winner between the Ducks and Badgers will play in the second round against the winner of Kansas State — where Altman coached from 1990-94 — and UC Irvine. The South Regional's Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight matchups will be played in Louisville, Ky.
Kansas State and Irvine play Friday at 11 a.m. PT. The Ducks and Badgers will tip off 30 minutes after the completion of that game, with both televised by TBS.
"One game at a time," said UO junior guard Payton Pritchard, the Pac-12 Tournament MVP. "We're not looking ahead; we're just worried about Wisconsin. After Wisconsin, we'll worry about what's next."
The Ducks are looking to extend a remarkable eight-game winning streak that began after a loss at UCLA in which the Bruins scored 62 points in the second half. Since then, Oregon has allowed more than 61 in a full game just once, Saturday's Pac-12 Tournament semifinal win over Arizona State.
The win streak has capped a remarkable turnaround from an early season profile in which the UO men were built around five-star freshman Bol Bol, before his season-ending injury forced the team to reconfigure its lineup and playing style.
"I kind of can't remember what that mentality was back then," UO senior Paul White said. "And I think that's a good sign, that I left that in the past. We've shed that skin, and we're a new kind of team. That's something we'll carry on to San Jose.
"We enjoy playing tough and playing defense and rebounding now. That's big for us."
Also big for the Ducks is the fact they're playing Friday, rather than the NCAA Tournament's opening day Thursday. After expending copious amounts of energy to win four games in four days at the conference tournament, the UO men were able to take Sunday off and have the luxury of holding a light workout Monday before ramping up their preparations for the Badgers on Tuesday and Wednesday.
"We feel pretty good," senior guard Ehab Amin said. "When you win everything feels better. Especially how deep we are, we're not as in trouble as other teams that have a six-, seven-man rotation. I think we're feeling pretty good."
That wasn't the pairing that included the UO men, who had earned the Pac-12's automatic bid by winning the conference tournament the night before, with a 20-point blowout of Washington in Las Vegas. But the Ducks wouldn't have to wait much longer. And boy, would it be worth the wait.
Oregon will open the 2019 NCAA Tournament on the West Coast, with an extra day of rest, when the Ducks face Wisconsin on Friday in San Jose, Calif. The UO men are the No. 12 seed in the South Region, and will face the fifth-seeded Badgers, who lost Saturday to Michigan State in the Big Ten semifinals.
The Ducks (23-12) and Badgers (23-10) met in the second round of the tournament in both 2014 and 2015, with Wisconsin winning both, in Milwaukee and then Omaha, Neb. This time they play in San Jose, where Oregon won as a No. 12 seed in 2013, against Oklahoma State.
"For all things considered — the four games we just played, finals (coming up this week), and just a little time to travel — I think it is good for us," UO coach Dana Altman said. "It'll be a real tough four-team tournament for us."
The winner between the Ducks and Badgers will play in the second round against the winner of Kansas State — where Altman coached from 1990-94 — and UC Irvine. The South Regional's Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight matchups will be played in Louisville, Ky.
Kansas State and Irvine play Friday at 11 a.m. PT. The Ducks and Badgers will tip off 30 minutes after the completion of that game, with both televised by TBS.
"One game at a time," said UO junior guard Payton Pritchard, the Pac-12 Tournament MVP. "We're not looking ahead; we're just worried about Wisconsin. After Wisconsin, we'll worry about what's next."
The Ducks are looking to extend a remarkable eight-game winning streak that began after a loss at UCLA in which the Bruins scored 62 points in the second half. Since then, Oregon has allowed more than 61 in a full game just once, Saturday's Pac-12 Tournament semifinal win over Arizona State.
The win streak has capped a remarkable turnaround from an early season profile in which the UO men were built around five-star freshman Bol Bol, before his season-ending injury forced the team to reconfigure its lineup and playing style.
"I kind of can't remember what that mentality was back then," UO senior Paul White said. "And I think that's a good sign, that I left that in the past. We've shed that skin, and we're a new kind of team. That's something we'll carry on to San Jose.
"We enjoy playing tough and playing defense and rebounding now. That's big for us."
Also big for the Ducks is the fact they're playing Friday, rather than the NCAA Tournament's opening day Thursday. After expending copious amounts of energy to win four games in four days at the conference tournament, the UO men were able to take Sunday off and have the luxury of holding a light workout Monday before ramping up their preparations for the Badgers on Tuesday and Wednesday.
"We feel pretty good," senior guard Ehab Amin said. "When you win everything feels better. Especially how deep we are, we're not as in trouble as other teams that have a six-, seven-man rotation. I think we're feeling pretty good."
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