Pac-12 report: Washington State, Oregon, Arizona all advance on Day 1 of March Madness

All of Oregon, Arizona, and Washington Sate advanced on Day One.

The Pac-12 Conference has gotten off to a great start on the first day of the NCAA Tournament.

With four teams in the field, all three Pac-12 teams began the first day of March Madness with victories.

The first Pac-12 team to get the victory was 2-seed Arizona over 15-seed Long Beach State, Plenty had been discussed about Dan Monson, the Long Beach State coach who was fired and then went on to win the Big West tournament.

However, the Wildcats made easy work with an 85-85 victory.

Next up was Oregon upsetting South Carolina. The Pac-12 tournament champions have been March Madness darlings with Dana Altman running the show and they made easy work of 6-seed South Carolina with an 87-73 victory.

It was the Jermaine Couisnard show as he had 40 points and six assists on a huge performance for the Ducks. They next face Creighton with a trip to the Sweet 16 in-store.

The final Pac-12 game of the day was Washington State moving past Drake. It was a back-and-forth game but the Cougars took the lead with less than two minutes left and they were able to get the 66-61 victory. Washington State faces 2-seed Iowa State on Saturday.

Colorado faces Florida on Friday as there is a path for all four teams to advance.

Trash talk from a former teammate inspired Oregon’s Jermaine Couisnard to drop 40 points in a bracket-busting win

Oregon’s Jermaine Couisnard said he used to mentor this player as teammates at South Carolina.

Oregon senior guard Jermaine Couisnard was one of the breakout stars of the first game of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

Couisnard, a 25-year-old playing for the Ducks in the opening round of March Madness, is currently finishing his senior year in Eugene for the Oregon men’s basketball program.

He had previously played multiple seasons for South Carolina in the SEC before transferring to the Pacific Northwest to play for Oregon head coach Dana Altman.

Yet, in a juicy storyline, Oregon was fatefully matched up against South Carolina to begin March Madness and Couisnard did not disappoint.

The senior led the Ducks in many key statistical categories, including: points, assists, 3-pointers, and steals. He was dominant while playing against South Carolina, finishing with 40 points as the Ducks advanced to the second round to play Creighton in the Midwest region of the bracket.

It was the first time a double-digit seed had scored at least 40 points in a men’s basketball tournament game since Stephen Curry did as much in 2008.

After the game, Couisnard admitted that he was feeling particularly inspired because someone on South Carolina’s roster was hitting him with some “trash talk” after hitting a 3-point against him.

Couisnard said that this is a player that he used to mentor when they were teammates in South Carolina (who he later confirmed was Jacobi Wright), so he was feeling especially motivated after hearing that.

Couisnard described it as “normal” trash talk and nothing egregious.

Either way, the Oregon star played for South Carolina for many years.

So this win to survive and advance had to feel especially good for Couisnard and the Ducks.

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Oregon’s Dana Altman shuts down retirement rumors ahead of Pac-12 tournament

Dana Altman might not be going anywhere anytime soon.

The Oregon Ducks men’s basketball team is the 4-seed in the Pac-12 Conference tournament. If the Ducks string together a win or two, they could get a bid into the NCAA Tournament.

Amidst all of that, there have been some puzzling rumors swirling about head coach Dana Altman potentially retiring. However, Altman discussed that chatter, per Miles Dwyer of Ducks Wire:

“I have no idea who said that. I’m not sure who said it; I know I didn’t. I have talked to nobody. Whoever is saying that is pure speculation. I’m not going anywhere — unless the school tells me I’m not here — but no, I’m not retiring that’s for sure.”

Altman has been there for 13 seasons, but the Ducks might miss out on the Big Dance once again, which isn’t what fans were hoping for. All in all, it would be a huge surprise if he retires or goes elsewhere.

Follow Ducks Wire for more coverage. 

Oregon pegged as loser in latest USA Today Bubble Watch

Oregon needs to do some work ahead of the Pac-12 tournament.

The Pac-12 Conference might just have three teams from the men’s side in the NCAA Tournament. Right now, Arizona and Washington State are locked in and a couple of teams are on the outside.

Colorado and Oregon are two Pac-2 teams on the bubble, but the Ducks were mentioned as a loser in the latest bubble watch by Jordan Mendoza of USA Today.

Oregon may have quickly risen into NCAA Tournament consideration, but it may fall just as fast after the shellacking it took from Arizona.

One of the first teams projected to miss the tournament, the Ducks stood no chance against the Arizona buzzsaw Saturday, falling behind early and unable to pull itself out of a hole in a 103-83 defeat.

It was a tall task for Dana Altman’s team to go into Tucson and beat a Wildcats team that has only lost at home three times in the past three seasons, but a win was necessary when Oregon just entered the conversation as a fringe tournament contender. It only took 10 minutes for Arizona to build up a 17-point lead, and at one point, the Wildcats led by 28.

Not all hope is lost for Oregon; it has another Quad 1 opportunity against Colorado next week. But what happened against Arizona might hurt the Ducks too much to recover from.

Oregon is 19-10 on the year and they finish the year with games against Colorado and Utah this weekend. If they do well and make a run in the Pac-12 tournament, that could help their case.

If not, it could be a slim Pac-12 watch in the Big Dance.

Pac-12 men’s basketball report: Utah sneaks past Oregon, bubble teams fail to make statements

In late January, the Pac-12 has only one threat to make the Sweet 16: Arizona. No one else is a major contender.

The Pac-12 men’s basketball results have not been as good as many in the conference have hoped for. On Sunday, Utah snuck by Oregon, 80-77, in a close game between teams fighting for a spot in the NCAA tournament.

One encouraging thing for Dana Altman’s team was the play of N’Faly Dante, who did all he could to get the win for the Ducks (h/t Miles Dwyer of Ducks Wire).

“In the second half, the Ducks started running their offense through N’Faly Dante. After scoring just 2 points in the first half, Dante went for 21 in the second half. Dante also played 29 minutes in Sunday’s game, the most since his injury.”

Dante played in just his third game since returning from injury, and he showed every bit why the Ducks are excited about his potential.

He finished the game with 23 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists in a losing effort.

Oregon’s loss at Utah is not a bad loss, but it represents the failure to add a quality win to the resume. By losing to both Colorado and Utah over the past few days, Oregon remains a bubble team relative to the NCAA Tournament. With Washington State losing at Cal on Saturday, the Pac-12 did not have a good weekend in terms of boosting its number of NCAA Tournament bids. The maximum number looks like four teams, and it’s possible that the Pac-12 will get on three bids. Other than Arizona, not one team looks likely to be a higher seed in a first-round game. In other words, only one team in the conference looks likely to have a seed higher than No. 9. That means the Pac-12 has only one serious threat to make the Sweet 16, let alone the Final Four. That’s a huge disappointment in late January.

Next up for Oregon is a game against Arizona State. Utah next faces Washington State.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire.

Andy Enfield embarks on must-win road trip to Oregon

This road trip in Oregon is hugely critical for Andy Enfield.

Other Pac-12 basketball writers and outlets are noticing how badly Andy Enfield has struggled as USC basketball coach this season. This Oregon road trip — to Eugene on Thursday and to Corvallis over the weekend — is a hugely critical point in Enfield’s season and possibly his career.

(h/t Don Smalley of Ducks Wire)

“Lincoln Riley isn’t the only coach at USC to feel a bit uneasy these days. At just 6-5, the Trojans come into Matthew Knight Arena on Thursday for the Pac-12 opener desperately needing a win. Coach Andy Enfield is also needing a win as his seat has become rather hot just two seasons after being named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year.”

There are no lies in that paragraph from Ducks Wire. The Trojans came into the season not merely expecting to make the NCAA Tournament, but to make a legitimate run at the Pac-12 championship. USC was picked to finish in the top three before the season began. The Trojans started the season in the top 25 of the polls. They have the No. 1-ranked recruit in the Class of 2023, Isaiah Collier. Bronny James has now joined the team and played a few games. All of this should be so much better than it is.

The Trojans are running out of time in the attempt to prove they can become a good team. This Oregon trip carries far more pressure than anyone initially expected.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire.

USC men’s basketball faces Oregon on the road to begin Pac-12 play

USC tries to start over.

The USC Trojans men’s basketball team has not performed up to expectations this season. It has a 6-5 record. The Trojans have lost four of the last six games despite Bronny James making his return recently, and questions are swirling about Andy Enfield’s future.

On Thursday, USC begins Pac-12 play with a road game against the Oregon Ducks. It will be a tough test, as it usually is for road games in the conference.

Oregon has some issues. Jesse Zarzuela was recently ruled out for the season. Dana Altman’s team is off to an 8-3 start and has losses against Santa Clara, Alabama, and Syracuse.

Oregon’s last game was an 84-70 win over Kent State. Jermain Couisnard led the way with 27 points and 10 rebounds after scoring just 11 combined in the previous two games.

The Ducks have six players averaging double figures, but one of them is N’Faly Dante, who played just one game and is hoping to return soon.

The Trojans made easy work of their last game against Alabama State, winning by 20 the last time out in an encouraging performance, but they have a difficult Pac-12 opener against the Ducks.

They have a lot to prove.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire.

Oregon basketball is dealing with multiple injuries early in the season

The Ducks are surviving.

Pac-12 basketball is finishing the first week of its last season. We’re wondering what other Pac-12 College Wire sites have to say about their teams. Two Ducks Wire writers gave their keys to success for Oregon men’s basketball, along with their main concerns for UO this season.

Don Smalley: How quickly this team jells and gets healthy. Several players are hurt, again. And let’s include how quickly point guard Jackson Shelstad acclimates to the college game.

Zachary Neel:  I think the key to success and the main concern for this team has to be health. Player availability killed them last season, and it doesn’t look to be going any better this year with several key pieces already missing a lot of practice or out until mid-December. The pieces are there for this team to be pretty good in the Pac-12, but they have to actually be healthy enough to play.

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As you can see from this link, at least four Oregon players missed the first week of games, including Friday against Montana. Jackson Shelstad was mentioned above. Mookie Cook and Michael Rataj will miss a few more games. Elite big man N’Faly Dante didn’t play against Montana on Friday. However, the Ducks are 2-0 with a level of resourcefulness we didn’t see the previous two seasons.

Be sure to follow Ducks Wire for full Oregon basketball coverage this season.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire.

Looking at a potential best-case lineup for Texas basketball next year

Texas could be primed for a massive portal haul. We project a possible lineup for the team.

The Texas Longhorns basketball program could be one player away from a trip back to the Elite Eight. What if I told you that player is a portal transfer from Northern Colorado?

On Thursday night, we learned that Texas had contacted 6-foot-6 Northern Colorado guard Dalton Knecht and shared their interest in bringing over the athletic talent.

Knecht averaged 20.1 points and 7.2 rebounds over the last season. He commands a list of suitors that includes Texas, Arkansas, Gonzaga, Illinois, Kentucky, North Carolina, Oregon and UCLA.

The largely unknown talent scores in a handful of ways. Knecht connects on step back long range baskets like former BYU star Jimmer Fredette and throws down highlight dunks like Mac McClung. And while it’s often unlikely that a team is one transfer away from contention, the mid-major star might fit that billing for Texas.

Here’s a look at a potential best-case lineup for Texas.

Texas basketball reaches out to former five-star center Kel’el Ware

Rodney Terry and company hit up a big-time post player initiating Day 1 of new era.

Texas needs big men on its basketball roster for next season. Rodney Terry understands the assignment. Continue reading “Texas basketball reaches out to former five-star center Kel’el Ware”