LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Oregon men’s basketball team is in the Sweet 16, regardless of whether your bracket had that correct or not. The 12-seeded Ducks will match up against No. 1 seed Virginia in Louisville, Kentucky, on Thursday, March 28 at 6:57 p.m.
The Cavaliers finished first in the ACC regular season with a 16-2 record. Virginia’s two losses in ACC play were to Duke, a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Cavaliers did not win the ACC Tournament, losing to Florida State in the semifinals of the conference tournament.
It’s hard to find a weak spot in this 31-3 Virginia team. If there is one, it would be Virginia’s height. Point guard Kihei Clark is 5-foot-9 and shooting guard Kyle Guy is 6-foot-2. The Cavaliers counteract with knockdown 3-point shooting while playing the game at their own speed.
The Cavaliers slow the game down immensely. They are last in the NCAA in possessions per 40 minutes with 59.3. Although Oregon is slow, ranking 328th with a 64.1 average, Virginia blows that out of the water.
“They stay comfortable in that slow pace,” senior guard Ehab Amin said. “It’s gonna come down to who imposes their will more and plays their style more. We will try to speed them up and get them out of their comfort zone, but it’s gonna be hard with that kind of team that won 30 games already.”
This could prove difficult for an Oregon team that has depended and thrived on its defensive stops in this 10-game win streak.
The low-tempo offense does not mean that Virginia can’t score points. The Cavaliers pose an impressive 40.1 3-point percentage, sixth in the country. If you leave Guy (43.9 percent), Ty Jerome (40 percent) or De’Andre Hunter (46.7 percent) open, the Cavaliers will make you pay.
Oregon does have the capability to stop that offense. The Ducks hold opponents to 29.1 percent shooting from beyond the arc, which ranks sixth in the country.
“Their whole team can shoot it,” freshman forward Louis King said. “What we’re gonna try do is break their rhythm, contest shots and get easy buckets in transition. … Our momentum comes from the defensive end being active, getting big stops and leading to big plays.”
In the post, Mamadi Diakite, 6-foot-9, and Jack Salt, 6-foot-10, play 74 percent of the minutes at the five. Six-foot-8 Braxton Key, who leads the Cavaliers with 5.5 rebounds per game, and 7-foot-1 Jay Huff, 61.1 percent from the field, come off the bench and add different elements.
Oregon’s Francis Okoro and Kenny Wooten, both 6-foot-9, play 88 percent of the center minutes, according to KenPom.com.
The two, and Paul White, are looking to play physically against their post counterparts, with Okoro focusing on rebounds and controlling the post in order to limit second-chance points.
“I’m really ready for this game,” Okoro said. “The rebound battle, I’m taking it personal. I think Kenny’s taking it personal too. … The more rebounds we get, the more chances we get of winning because we get a stop. Virginia is a really good team, they have a really good post presence, that’s why they’re out-rebounding us.”
If the Ducks want to move onto the Elite 8, they will need to play like they did in the second half against Wisconsin and the final 11 minutes against UC Irvine, but this time, for a full 40 minutes.
“Our coaches talked to us about valuing every possession,” freshman guard Will Richardson said. “Every possession needs to be important to us. Our last game we took a couple possessions off, against a team like this, it’s probably gonna cost you. We’ve got to be a lot more focused on both ends of the floor.”
Follow Maverick Pallack on Twitter @mavpallack
