Little Rock N Roll? Ducks Ready to Dance
WHAT’S ON TAP . . . Ninth-seeded Oregon of the Pac-10 will take on eighth-seeded Mississippi State of the SEC in an NCAA Tournament first round game on Friday, March 21 at Alltel Arena in North Little Rock, Ark. CBS will televise the game live.
NCAA NOTES . . . Oregon is now 12-8 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and 6-4 under current head coach Ernie Kent. Oregon is making the 10th NCAA Tournament appearance in school history and the fifth under Kent. The Ducks last appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 2007, advancing as a No. 3 seed to the Midwest Regional final before falling to eventual national champion Florida. Oregon beat Miami (Ohio), Winthrop and Nevada-Las Vegas to reach the Elite Eight.
In 2002 as a No. 2 seed, the Pac-10 regular season champion Ducks advanced to the Elite Eight, defeating Montana, Wake Forest and Texas before falling to top-seeded Kansas. The Ducks also have NCAA appearances in 2003, 2000, 1995, 1961 and 1960.
It is the third time Oregon has made back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances (1960-61, 2002-03, 2007-08).
Oregon won the very first NCAA Championship in 1939 (defeating Ohio State, 46-33), and the leading scorer in that game (16 points) Ret. Navy RADM John Dick, is a UO season ticket holder who attends nearly every home game.
ELITE TEAMS . . . Oregon is one of just 15 schools -- and the only from the Northwest -- to have advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight twice this decade (Arizona, Connecticut, Duke, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Memphis, Michigan State, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, UCLA).
MISSISSIPPI MUSINGS . . . Oregon redshirt freshman guard LeKendric Longmire is from Pascagoula. Miss., while assistant coach Kenny Payne is from Laurel, Miss.
