BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — The travel-savvy Ducks have finally landed in the Sweet 16.
By the time Oregon returns to Eugene next week, the team will have logged 11,652 miles — certainly more than any team participating in the NCAA Tournament. No need a calculator for that.
But before then, they hope to knock off the nation’s top scoring team: No. 3-seeded Maryland, which averages 90.1 points a game. The Ducks aren’t letting the Terrapins’ seed fool them. At 32-2 overall, the Terps have the offensive firepower to cripple any defense.
“From studying them, you have a hard time believing that there’s eight teams better than these guys,” said head coach Mark Campbell, who handles the Ducks’ defensive schemes.
The Ducks will look to plug up Maryland’s offense, namely by limiting possessions.
“If we play this game in the 90s tomorrow, we’re probably going to be in trouble,” head coach Kelly Graves said. “If we can keep it between 75 and 80, okay, now, that’s a different story.”
In many respects, the Ducks and Terps mirror each other in size and scoring.
But that’s not the case when it comes to experience. Maryland starts two seniors: Shatori Walker-Kimbrough (18.9 points a game) and Brionna Jones (20.0 points, 10.7 rebounds). The Ducks start three freshmen, a sophomore and a junior. Both Walker-Kimbrough and Jones have Final Four experience, as well.
The Ducks are coming off arguably their best defensive game of the season — a 74-65 win over Duke on Monday in the Round of 32.
“As good as we were there, though, we’ve got to be a lot better,” Graves said.
Oregon isn’t backing down from the challenge — not on this stage with this much on the line.
“You’ve got to do everything the best you can because you never know when the ball is going to stop bouncing,” Sabrina Ionescu said. “So we come in every day, we play hard, and I think we’re peaking at the right time. So we’re going to come out tomorrow and we’re going to give it everything we have and see where that takes us.”
Maryland coach Brenda Frese took it one step forward, comparing the Ducks to the 2006 Maryland team which won the national championship while starting two freshmen, two sophomores and a junior.
“They didn’t understand the expectations and what was at stake, advancing each round,” Frese said. “So you can see that there’s no pressure on their shoulders, that they’re excited to be here. They’re peaking at the right time.”
That peak has largely come at the hands of freshmen. Oregon’s first-year players have teamed up to score 63 percent of the team’s points in NCAA Tournament play. Oregon, the only team in the field to start three freshmen, ranks fourth in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (39.0 percent) thanks in large part to Lexi Bando’s play. She scored 14 points and made four 3-pointers in the win over Duke.
Maryland is plenty aware of Bando’s ability from behind the arc.
“I feel like her shots right now in the tournament are timely threes, and you’ve got to be able to find her,” Frese said. “She is shooting the ball extremely well, and you have to be there on the catch.”
But regardless of Saturday’s outcome, the Ducks are soaking in every minute of March Madness.
“I think we’re just going to keep playing hard and see how far that takes us, and whatever happens, I think we’re going to be really proud of ourselves,” said Ruthy Hebard, who has averaged 21.5 points and 14.5 rebounds in NCAA Tournament play. “And I think we should be.”
Either Oregon or Maryland will play the winner of UConn-UCLA in the Elite Eight on Monday.
Follow Jonathan Hawthorne on Twitter @Jon_Hawthorne
Find all of the Emerald’s coverage leading up to the Sweet 16 here.
