#5 Oklahoma State vs #12 Oregon (W 68-55)

[UOducksTK1]

Will be a tough game, but if we bring our A game, we can do it. Go Ducks!

[Duck07]

We can beat these guys as they certainly weren't wanting to play a team of our caliber to start things off.

[chapelhillduck]

at least I have my 12-5 upset pick ready

[duckgrad99]

I think Oklahoma St is deserving of their seed. They won at Kansas.

[dd10snoop28]

I've seen Oklahoma State play a few times. They have a lot of talent, but are inconsistent.

Markel Brown (6-4 SG) is an athletic SG who has tremendously improved his 3pt shooting. He's a threat from outside.

LeBryan Nash (6-8 SF) can be a tough matchup down low, but he needs to improve his IQ. If we throw quick doubles at him, he will have trouble all night. He's got a solid jumper, but if we don't double I think EJ will have difficulty with him.

Phil Forte (6-0 SG). Dead-eye shooter. That's it.

Marcus Smart (6-4 PG). This guy is the key to the game. If we let him run loose offensively and defensively the game will be over early. He can single-handedly disrupt the timing of any offense. Great defender who gambles a lot, but that will work against a turnover-rich team like Oregon. Offensively, he's going to abuse our PG's in the post. Loyd should NEVER be guarding this guy. Probably the only guy capable of guarding him is Emory.

[OregonFan4Life]

Anyone know the time of the game? I have a Final on Friday morning for my advanced financial accounting class, I was planning on studying all day Thursday for that, but maybe not now.

[dd10snoop28]

Tough class. Good luck!

[MFRDuckFan]

We've got to kick some major ass!!!

[cordy02c]

Well if their pg is a really good defender I doubt altman would do it but play Ej at point to minimize his defensive impact

[dd10snoop28]

Well if their pg is a really good defender I doubt altman would do it but play Ej at point to minimize his defensive impact

He's a good man-to-man defender, but where he excels is off the ball. He has great anticipation.. Remember the first few minutes of last nights game when UCLA was getting a lot of deflections and the result was 7 or so turnovers in a short amount of time? That's what Okie State (and Smart) does all game long. Smart will have a field day stripping our big men off the double and getting in the passing lanes. I hope we prepare well for that. Turnovers could get out of control for us.

[cordy02c]

The game is scheduled to start at 1:40 pm on thursday and will be on tnt

[duckgrad99]

The game is scheduled to start at 1:40 pm on thursday and will be on tnt

Hmmmm, a lot of people working a half day Thursday? If anyone cares, looks like the Cal/UNLV game will follow the Oregon game.

[SuperDuck]

I think Oklahoma St is deserving of their seed. They won at Kansas.

Yep. They won 85-80. They also only lost to both Kansas and Gonzaga at home by one point. I think they were 1-2 vs Kansas State, 1-1 vs Oklahoma, 2-1 vs Baylor and 1-1 vs Iowa State. Those are all NCAA Tourney teams except Baylor, but they're still 18-14 and likely NIT bound. Their only bad loss was way back in December to Virginia Tech.

I checked their RPI and it was #27 vs #47 for Oregon, but that was back on March 11th.

Make no mistake, Oklahoma State is a really good basketball team. They've played (and beaten) tougher teams than Oregon has this year. Of course, the Ducks are a good team as well and seem to be getting back on track.

I see a close game either way.

[303DucksFan]

I predict a close win for Oregon or a blowout by OSU.

[TheMaehlMan]

I don't know if Oklahoma State fans just have unrealistic expectations, but I've seen a good amount of their fans criticize the coaching. Maybe Altman will be able to find a win by out-coaching OK-St.

The thing that sucks about this is I definitely think Oklahoma State is legit. If we cough the ball up for extended periods of time, they will convert those into buckets. Also, if Oregon can't keep up with them defensively, it could be a long night. The best thing about this matchup is that Oklahoma State won't slow the pace down, but Oregon still has to score with them.