Oregon’s NCAA Tournament Run Ends With Loss In The Sweet 16

It was easy to overlook the University of Oregon’s basketball team in the weeks and days leading up to the 2019 NCAA Tournament.

Before the tournament started, the Ducks were ranked 38th in the nation according to the College Basketball Power Index (BPI), and though they did end up winning their fourth Pac-12 tournament title in a row, most people saw the conference as being one of the weakest in America.

The Ducks boasted a combination of four starters standing at least 6’9, with one of the most air-tight defenses in the nation, but stopping opponents from scoring didn’t mean all that much if the team couldn’t score themselves. Oregon’s offense sputtered for much of the season, and if they couldn’t get guard Payton Pritchard going early and setting the table for forwards Paul White and Louis King, things could get ugly.

So the Ducks entered the tournament as a #12 seed, despite winning a “power conference.” And while many thought the NCAA Tournament selection committee did the Ducks no favors by pitting the against the University of Wisconsin – who had two Final Four appearances in the last five years – in the first round of this year’s tournament, it turns out that the lack of favors actually took place for those who support the Badgers.

The dreaded “5-12 curse” came to fruition yet again, with the Ducks routing the Badgers in a 72-54 opening round upset. That set the stage for Oregon to advance to the Sweet 16 for the third time in four years, if they took care of business against the 13th-seeded UC Irvine Anteaters, who themselves were coming off a huge upset over Kansas State University. To their credit, UC Irvine actually held the lead over Oregon just over five minutes into the second half of the game, before the Ducks exploded on a 38-17 run over the final 14-plus minutes of the game, leading to a 73-54 win that was tougher than the final score would otherwise indicate.

Subsequently, their upcoming game against the mighty University of Virginia Cavaliers very much appeared to be a “slobberknocker”-type matchup that pro wrestling fans would love, given both teams penchant for grinding out each possession on defense. And though the game was tied at 45 with just over five minutes left in the game, the Cavaliers would pull away in those final few minutes to pick up the 53-49 win over Oregon, ending the Ducks “Cinderella” run without the chance to make it back to the Elite Eight for the third time in four years.

Since taking over the program in 2010, Oregon head coach Dana Altman has now guided the Ducks to six NCAA tournament appearances in the last seven years, and has got them opening round wins in each of those appearances. While the Ducks couldn’t quite match their Final Four appearance the last time they were in the tournament (2017), they continue to be one of the last teams standing in March and April among all their Pac-12 rivals.