NCAA Tournament berth up for grabs as Oregon men's basketball begins Pac-12 Tournament play
Oregon arrived in Las Vegas Tuesday night knowing it has one last opportunity to bolster its case for an NCAA Tournament berth.
Of course, the Ducks will also have a chance over the coming days to eliminate the suspense of Selection Sunday altogether.
The winner of the Pac-12 Tournament — which started Wednesday and goes through Saturday at T-Mobile Arena — gets the conference’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
That’s what fourth-seeded Oregon (18-13) is gunning for when it opens with a quarterfinal game against No. 5 Washington State at 2:30 pm. Thursday. The Cougars beat California in a first-round game Wednesday.
The Ducks earned one of the four first-round byes in the conference tournament as they avoided playing on Wednesday, giving them a three-game path to a potential championship.
If they win Thursday, they’ll play either No. 1 UCLA or No. 9 Colorado in a semifinal game at 6 p.m. Friday.
Oregon split its season series against Washington State, winning 74-60 at Matthew Knight Arena on Dec. 1 in the Pac-12 opener for both teams, and losing 68-65 in Pullman on Feb. 19.
Defending tournament champion Arizona is the No. 2 seed and the top team in the other half of the bracket.
The Ducks built some momentum with three straight wins to end the regular season, making it their longest win streak since mid-December.
“They kind of look at this as a new opportunity,” coach Dana Altman said. “We know it’s a very difficult road.”
One that Oregon has been down before.
In Altman’s previous 12 seasons the Ducks have played in the Pac-12 Tournament championship game five times and won titles in 2013, 2016 and 2019. They’ve also advanced to the semifinals eight times under Altman.
Even though the Ducks need every win they can get, Altman said the key to a long tournament run is staying focused on the moment.
“There is no Friday if you don’t play well Thursday,” Altman said. “And so you lay it all out there.”
As of Wednesday, Oregon was 47th in the NET rankings and not included in the bracket predictions turned out by Joe Lunardi of ESPN or Jerry Palm of CBSsports.com. Both only included three Pac-12 teams — UCLA, Arizona and Southern California — with Arizona State and Oregon on the bubble.
“We’ve got some really good teams in the league again this year,” Altman said. “I think a couple are underrated as far as national perception is concerned, so I think it’s going to be a great tournament.”
N'Faly Dante earns all-Pac-12 recognition
Senior N'Faly Dante on Tuesday became the first Oregon center to be named first-team all-Pac-12 since Jerry Adams in 1986.
Dante led the Ducks and set career bests in points (13.5), rebounds (8.2) and blocks (1.4) per game. His field-goal percentage of 64.2% is the best in program history.
Will Richardson was also named all-conference honorable mention after averaging 12.5 points, 5.2 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game.
Oregon State's Jordan Pope was named to the all-freshman team.
UCLA senior guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. was the Pac-12 player of the year and the Bruins' Mick Cronin was the coach of the year.
Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Tournament
T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas
THURSDAY
No. 1 UCLA vs. No. 9 Colorado, 12 p.m., Pac-12 Networks
No. 4 Oregon vs. No. 5 Washington State, 2:30 p.m., Pac-12 Networks
No. 2 Arizona vs. No. 7 Utah or No. 10 Stanford, 6 p.m., Pac-12 Networks
No. 3 USC vs. No. 6 Arizona State or No. 11 Oregon State, 8:30 p.m., ESPN
FRIDAY
Semifinal 1, 6 p.m., Pac-12 Networks
Semifinal 2, 8:30 p.m., ESPN
SATURDAY
Championship, 7:30 p.m., ESPN
Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com. For more sports coverage, visit registerguard.com. Want more stories like this? Subscribe to get unlimited access and support local journalism.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon Ducks look to earn March Madness bid in Pac-12 tourney
