Oregon should beat Liberty, 7:10 p.m. Friday on TruTV in their NCAA first-round game in Seattle. They're 6.5-point favorites over the 12th-seeded Flames, 28-6 and the champions of Conference USA. Dana Altman is 14-7 in the tournament at UO, a resume that's includes a Sweet 16 in 2013, an Elite Eight in 2016, and the Final Four in 2017, two more Sweet 16s in 2019 and 2021.
He knows better than anyone that winning in Grimy City and evading the dreaded 5-12 curse will come down to three things: Shooting, rebounding and defense.
The Ducks didn't do any of those well in their last outing, a 10-point loss to the Spartans in Indianapolis, a squad trained for war and mayhem in the paint. Tom Izzo's crew ran into the face of shooters and crashed the boards, warding off an Oregon surge after the half and bloodying them with a 36-29 advantage off the glass that led to a 16-4 edge in second chance points. As they say in the bars as the pile of peanut shells are swept away, "That's your ball game right there."
Altman has won 710 games in his coaching career, 75 of them in March. In 15 years at Oregon, he's never lost in the round of 64.
This time it's the Ducks that have the travel advantage. It's a 2,280-mile flight from Lynchburg, Virginia to Seattle, five hours on a plane if there are no snakes. The Flames are raised higher by their 6-4 senior guard Taelon Peter, whose marvelously Biblical name inspires him to a team-leading 13.9 points a game and 59 percent shooting from the floor.
Altman said, “I’ve never seen them play so we’ll get busy tonight. You don’t win 28 games by accident.” Chris Hansen of the Eugene Register-Guard noted they've won 11 of the their last 12, so they're coming in hot. As Flames should.
They beat Western Kentucky, UTEP, Kennesaw State and Jacksonville to claim the CUSA crown. In the final 5-11 senior guard Kaden Metheny poured in 21 points on 5-10 shooting from three-point range. Against Kennesaw State in the semifinal he scorched the nets for 24, 7-13 from beyond the arc.
Peter was a rock, chipping in 20 off the bench, 3-3 from distance. So the Ducks have work to do. They have to find more reliable ball movement and capitalize on their advantage in athleticism and size. The LU base offense includes three guards and two forwards, 6-8 and 6-7 in the frontcourt with a pair of 5-10, 5-11 starting guards. Take them to the rack and throw it down, Big Man.