Oregon Ducks End NCAA Tournament Run With Loss vs Virginia
The Oregon Ducks run in the 2019 NCAA Tournament came to an end with a 53-49 loss to the Virginia Cavaliers on Thursday.
Head Coach Dana Altman has shown over his time with the Oregon Ducks that he can get players to come together. Six weeks ago, it did not look good for Oregon Basketball, but a ten game winning streak, including winning the Pac-12 Tournament gave the Ducks the 12 seed.
They won two games and faced a tough test in the Virginia Cavaliers. While the Oregon Defense held Virginia under 60 points, Oregon struggled to find their Offense down the stretch.
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The Cavaliers had a rough stretch to open the game missing 14 of their first 15 shots which helped keep the Oregon Ducks in the game early. Oregon was down just 8 points at halftime and came back to open the second half. The Ducks were held scoreless over the final five minutes where a basket or two could have made the difference in the game.
Louis King led the Oregon Ducks in scoring and was hampered most of the game with a lingering ankle injury. He had two three-point shots that rolled out of the basket in the second half. He finished with 16 points. Payton Pritchard finished with 11 points and was 3 for 12 from the floor.
The Oregon Ducks and Virginia Cavaliers played without much foul trouble. While the Ducks lost by four points, they took just 8 free throws, making 6 of them. Oregon shot 38 percent while Virginia hit 36 percent. For the game, Oregon had just 11 turnovers while the Cavaliers had 8.
Oregon finishes the season at 25-13 and Sweet 16 appearance. With the season complete, the questions of who stays and who goes are starting to be answered.
On Friday, Freshman Bol Bol officially ended his college eligibility signing with an agent. I expect others will ‘test the NBA Waters’ over the next few months.