Experience and preparation was the theme when Oregon men’s basketball held its preliminary press conference ahead of its first round NCAA Tournament game on Thursday. The fifth-seeded Ducks (24-9, 12-8 Big Ten) are set to face 12th-seeded Liberty University (28-6, 13-5 Conference USA) on Friday night.
Oregon was knocked out of the Big Ten Tournament by Michigan State in the second round after beating Indiana, but had time to return to Eugene before traveling to Seattle. The Ducks find themselves close to home, but in enemy territory; Climate Pledge Arena is just minutes from the University of Washington campus.
Oregon finds an unfamiliar opponent in Liberty, which has lost just one of its last 12 across regular and postseason games. The two programs have never met, and Liberty has almost no experience this season against teams of Oregon’s quality. They faced just one team that qualified for the NCAA Tournament (12th-seeded McNeese State, which upset fifth-seeded Purdue earlier on Thursday) and finished with just six losses across non-conference and Conference USA play.
Here’s the best of what Oregon head coach Dana Altman and athletes TJ Bamba and Brandon Angel had to say on Thursday:
Altman on the varying NCAA and postseason experience in his team:
“A lot of the guys that we brought in as transfers have not played in the Tournament. But they are very experienced and they have shown that experience throughout the year. There are no magic wands as a coach. You just hope that the experiences that we’ve had throughout the year have prepared our guys for this. We’ve played on neutral floors six or seven games. We’ve been on the road a lot.
“So I think our guys are prepared and it’s a little bit of a different feeling just because of the media and all the build-up that the media gives these games before the games. I think our guys are ready for it, the experience that we do have playing in the Tournament. We had three starters back, Bam [Jadrian Tracey], K.J. [Evans] and Jackson [Shelstad] all played quite a bit last year in the Tournament, so we do have some experience coming back.”
Altman on the importance of playing clean against lower seeds:
“I think that’s important in any game, getting off to a good start. Playing from behind, we’ve done that quite a bit this year, which puts a lot of stress on your team. But, no, when we turn the ball over, and we have turned it over here more recently than I would like, trying to do too much and trying to score maybe too quickly at times.
“But it’s important for us to move the ball offensively, for us to get the looks we want to get. We’re going to have to shoot the ball a little bit. It shows the difference, I think, against Indiana we went 9 for 20 from three and the next night we go 4 for 19 against Michigan State. We had some really good looks, and we just didn’t hit ’em.”
Angel on playing close to home in Seattle — but also in Washington Husky territory:
“Having a home crowd makes a big difference. We appreciate our fans, both home and on the road. So having the Duck fans on the road will always be great and whatever opposing crowd we have, then bring it on and that’s just more energy in the arena and more stuff for us to build off of and fuel on.”
Bamba on Oregon’s preparation since exiting the Big Ten Tournament:
“I feel like yesterday we had one of the best practices that we had all year. I feel like everybody knows what’s at stake here. We just all come into practice focusing up, trying to have energy, really talking. It’s March, it’s the little things at this point. Every team that you’re going to play is good and is here for a reason.
“Some of my teammates, they’ve been saying that teams who have the most energy in March are the ones who are the most successful. So we just all been listening to each other trying to talk and do the little things that’s going to help us win.”
Oregon’s game against Liberty is scheduled to tip on Friday night at 7:10 p.m. at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. The winner will play the winner of Arizona and Akron on Sunday.
