NOTES: A Look Back at a Surprising Sweet 16 Season
04/10/19 | Men's Basketball
In 2018-19, Oregon advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the third time in the last four seasons and won the Pac-12 Tournament for the third time under coach Dana Altman.
THE STARTING 5
• 1 – Oregon has now won at least one game in its last six NCAA Tournament appearances. This was Oregon's sixth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last seven years, and overall it was the Ducks' ninth straight postseason appearance.
• 2 – The Ducks' last six NCAA Tournament losses have all come to teams that made the Final Four, and half of those six losses have come to teams that have won the national title: Louisville (2013); North Carolina (2017) and Virginia (2019).
• 3 – Dana Altman finished the season tied with Ernie Kent as the winningest coach in Oregon history. Altman and Kent (1997-10) both own 235 wins on the Oregon bench. The Ducks are averaging 26.1 wins per season during Altman's tenure.
• 4 – A turnaround for the ages. On Feb. 23, Oregon was 15-12 (10th place in the Pac-12 at 6-8). What followed was a remarkable streak of 10 wins in a row - four to end the regular season and six consecutive win-or-go-home games (four in the Pac-12 Tournament; two in the NCAA Tournament), before a four-point loss to eventual NCAA champion Virginia.
• 5 – After allowing UCLA to score 62 points in the second half of their last regular season loss on Feb. 23, the Ducks held 10 of their last 11 opponents to less than 62 points for the entire game. On the season, Oregon ranked 12th nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 62.2 points per game, and fifth in three-point field goal percentage defense (.290).
5 OFF THE BENCH
• 1 – During the 10-game winning streak, the Ducks outscored their opponents by nearly 18 points per game (72.1 to 54.2). Opponents shot just 34.9 percent from the field and 23.0 percent from three during that span.
• 2 – While Oregon's defensive surge was directly linked with the switch to the "big" starting lineup (four players standing 6-9), the play of Pac-12 Tournament MOP Payton Pritchard shouldn't be overlooked. During the 10-game winning streak, he averaged 16.3 points per game with 54 assists, 25 steals and just 19 turnovers.
• 3 – Payton Pritchard, who played more minutes in 2018-19 than anyone else in Division I (1,349), has compiled some career numbers that rank among the best ever at Oregon. He's just the third player in program history with 1,000 career points, 400 career rebounds and 400 career assists. UO Hall of Famers Ron Lee and Luke Jackson are the other two. He will enter his senior season ranked second all-time in steals (164) and fourth all-time in assists (487), with the career marks in both those categories (213 and 614, respectively, both held by Kenya Wilkins) well within his reach.
• 4 – Kenny Wooten will enter his junior season within shouting distance of the UO career blocks record of 235 (Jordan Bell). Wooten is third all-time with 166 blocks through his first two seasons at Oregon.
• 5 – Oregon earned its ninth consecutive 20-win season in 2018-19. The Ducks are one of only 12 schools nationally that have won 20 games in a row for at least nine consecutive seasons. This is also Oregon's ninth straight winning season, something that hasn't happened in Eugene in 87 years. The Ducks established program records for wins over a nine-year period (235), an eight-year period (214) and a seven-year period (190).
• 5 – Dana Altman is now one of six active head coaches in NCAA Division I who have posted a winning record for the last 22 consecutive seasons (the other five - Roy Williams, Jim Boeheim, Tom Izzo, Bill Self and Mike Krzyzewski - are all in the Hall of Fame).
THE STARTING 5
• 1 – Oregon has now won at least one game in its last six NCAA Tournament appearances. This was Oregon's sixth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last seven years, and overall it was the Ducks' ninth straight postseason appearance.
• 2 – The Ducks' last six NCAA Tournament losses have all come to teams that made the Final Four, and half of those six losses have come to teams that have won the national title: Louisville (2013); North Carolina (2017) and Virginia (2019).
• 3 – Dana Altman finished the season tied with Ernie Kent as the winningest coach in Oregon history. Altman and Kent (1997-10) both own 235 wins on the Oregon bench. The Ducks are averaging 26.1 wins per season during Altman's tenure.
• 4 – A turnaround for the ages. On Feb. 23, Oregon was 15-12 (10th place in the Pac-12 at 6-8). What followed was a remarkable streak of 10 wins in a row - four to end the regular season and six consecutive win-or-go-home games (four in the Pac-12 Tournament; two in the NCAA Tournament), before a four-point loss to eventual NCAA champion Virginia.
• 5 – After allowing UCLA to score 62 points in the second half of their last regular season loss on Feb. 23, the Ducks held 10 of their last 11 opponents to less than 62 points for the entire game. On the season, Oregon ranked 12th nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 62.2 points per game, and fifth in three-point field goal percentage defense (.290).
5 OFF THE BENCH
• 1 – During the 10-game winning streak, the Ducks outscored their opponents by nearly 18 points per game (72.1 to 54.2). Opponents shot just 34.9 percent from the field and 23.0 percent from three during that span.
• 2 – While Oregon's defensive surge was directly linked with the switch to the "big" starting lineup (four players standing 6-9), the play of Pac-12 Tournament MOP Payton Pritchard shouldn't be overlooked. During the 10-game winning streak, he averaged 16.3 points per game with 54 assists, 25 steals and just 19 turnovers.
• 3 – Payton Pritchard, who played more minutes in 2018-19 than anyone else in Division I (1,349), has compiled some career numbers that rank among the best ever at Oregon. He's just the third player in program history with 1,000 career points, 400 career rebounds and 400 career assists. UO Hall of Famers Ron Lee and Luke Jackson are the other two. He will enter his senior season ranked second all-time in steals (164) and fourth all-time in assists (487), with the career marks in both those categories (213 and 614, respectively, both held by Kenya Wilkins) well within his reach.
• 4 – Kenny Wooten will enter his junior season within shouting distance of the UO career blocks record of 235 (Jordan Bell). Wooten is third all-time with 166 blocks through his first two seasons at Oregon.
• 5 – Oregon earned its ninth consecutive 20-win season in 2018-19. The Ducks are one of only 12 schools nationally that have won 20 games in a row for at least nine consecutive seasons. This is also Oregon's ninth straight winning season, something that hasn't happened in Eugene in 87 years. The Ducks established program records for wins over a nine-year period (235), an eight-year period (214) and a seven-year period (190).
• 5 – Dana Altman is now one of six active head coaches in NCAA Division I who have posted a winning record for the last 22 consecutive seasons (the other five - Roy Williams, Jim Boeheim, Tom Izzo, Bill Self and Mike Krzyzewski - are all in the Hall of Fame).
Players Mentioned
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