Embrace the Madness: Oregon Men meet familiar foe in the Round of 32

From Climate Pledge Arena in Grimy City, Oregon is a 3.5-point underdog this evening in the second round of the NCAA Tournament versus Arizona, the four-seed from the Big 12.

The Wildcats and Ducks last met in the PAC-12 tournament last March. Jackson Shelstad scored 21 points and Jermaine Couisinard 20 as the Webfoots overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to win 67-59 in Las Vegas.

Arizona was favored that night too. This time, Oregon's coming off a hot shooting game on Thursday where Shelstad again found his rhythm, connecting on 7-11 from the floor for 17 points as the Ducks jumped out to an 11-2 lead and controlled the game throughout. They hit 54 percent of their shots from the field and buried Liberty by making 10-21 from 3-point range.

The energy and flow in the Oregon offense was the best Duck fans have seen all season. They seem to have found something in winning nine of their last 10 games. Meanwhile the Wildcats have stumbled into postseason play, losing six of 11 to end the year before rallying to beat 11-seed Akron in their tournament opener 93-65 behind 19 points from 6-3 senior guard Jaden Bradley.

Dana Altman, the NCAA's winningest active coach in the month of March, thinks rebounding is the key to besting their old PAC-12 rival:

" I think the rebounding is going to be very important. They're a plus seven on the season and really got Akron on the boards last night. But their size, their athleticism, we're just going to have to compete. It really hurt us against Michigan State in the tournament. So we know they're going to go. We have to put a body on 'em, we're going to have to be physical, and we're going to have to do a good job, all five guys staying in the fight and trying to get the ball."

Dana Altman

Third in the Big-12 this season behind Houston and Texas Tech, the 23-12 Wildcats are big up front featuring leading rebounder Tobe Awaka, a 6-8, 250 forward and center Motiejus Krivas, a 7-2, 260 behemoth from Siaulia, Lithuania. Forward Trey Townsend pulls down 4.1 rebounds a game at 6-6, 225. He snagged the Zips for 16 points and eight rebounds on Thursday.

In that one the Wildcats hit three 3-pointers early and led by ten at halftime, running away with it in a 52-point second half.