SACRAMENTO — No. 3 seed Oregon won convincingly in the first round of the NCAA Tournament with a 93-77 victory over No. 13 seed Iona. Oregon will face No. 11 seed Rhode Island in the second round on Sunday at the Golden1 Center at 4:30 p.m.
Rhode Island reached the second round by defeating No. 6 seed Creighton 84-72. Offensively, Rhode Island’s numbers were slightly below the season average, including a poor 19 percent from three. It was Rhode Island’s defense that won them the game, which sticks to their formula.
The Rams are one of the hottest teams in the country with nine straight wins.
Rhode Island ranks 25th in the nation in defensive efficiency, allowing 94.8 points per 100 possessions, according to kenpom.com. They hold opponents to 29 percent shooting from three, which ranks second in the country. Led by Hassan Martin, Rhode Island also ranks second in the country in block percentage, behind only Oregon. They want to slow the game down and play physical.
“[They’re] tough, hard-nosed, east-coast guys. You know they’re going to get after it on the defensive end,” Dylan Ennis said. “We’ve just got to stop them in transition and take care of the ball.”
Rhode Island forced eight turnovers, all steals, in its win over Creighton.
The challenge for Oregon will be breaking the strong defense. The Ducks have become one of the nation’s best offensive teams in the country, but the loss of Chris Boucher hurts them. They rank 15th in the country in effective field goal percentage and have shot 42 percent from three since conference play began.
“We’re really deep on the threes,” Dillon Brooks said. “We’ve got a lot of guys that shoot 40 percent from three, and, you know, man-to-man is their best bet.”
The play of Brooks will be important, as always, but it was Tyler Dorsey who led the Ducks in scoring against Iona. His 24 points came in a variety of ways. He was aggressive and attacked the paint, going to the free throw line more than anyone one the team. An aggressive Dorsey is what the Ducks will need to defeat Rhode Island.
Rhode Island will be attacking the rim and the boards with Boucher out. They will force Kavell Bigby-Williams to make decisions throughout the game.
“[A]re we going to put him in ball screens tomorrow? Yeah. We will put him in ball screens,” Rhode Island head coach Dan Hurley said. “The element they miss with Chris Boucher is the three-point shooting and obviously that other potentially explosive offensive player.”
Hurley’s brother is Arizona State head coach Bob Hurley, so he will be helping Rhode Island with the game plan.
“I probably talked to Bobby in the last 24 minutes about this Duck team,” Hurley said. “There are some things you can take from every game just based on how many good coaches there are in the Pac-12 and we saw some different approaches that different teams took.”
Look for Rhode Island to get their leading scorer E.C. Mathews involved early against Oregon’s matchup zone defense.
For the Ducks, it’s about breaking into a fast-paced, transition game where they can utilize their superior athleticism.
Follow Jack Butler on Twitter @Butler917