Oregon Surges Past Colorado, Wins Pac-12 Championship
The year of bid-stealers continues, as another team in the Oregon Ducks has just found themselves crashing the party and earning an automatic bid in the NCAA tournament field. The fourth-seeded Ducks were able to outlast the third-seeded Colorado Buffaloes by a score of 75-68 to complete their exquisite run to a Pac-12 tournament championship. Oregon took down the UCLA Bruins in the quarterfinal before shocking the nation and upsetting the number one-seeded Arizona Wildcats to set up a championship date with the Buffs. The Ducks trailed by nine midway through the first half but rallied to take a three-point lead into the half. The second half was tightly contested, and it was not until the last minute that Oregon secured the victory with clutch free throws.
Ducks’ center N’Faly Dante picked the perfect game to put up his season-high of 25 points and nine rebounds, as the team heavily relied on his low-post skillset to ignite the offense. The Oregon guard tandem of Jackson Shelstad and Jermaine Couisnard combined for 31 points, albeit on just 9-30 from the field. Despite connecting on just two three-pointers as a team, the Ducks committed only three turnovers compared to the Buffs’ 13 turnovers. Guard KJ Simpson led Colorado in scoring with 23 points, in addition to six rebounds and four assists. Guard Luke O’Brien was the only other Buffaloe to reach double digits with 11 points. Besides the turnover margin, the Ducks’ 46 paint points to the Buffs’ 18 was a key difference maker in this one.
Oregon will be heading back to the NCAA tournament for the first time in three years, where they made it to the Sweet Sixteen in 2021. They will likely slot in as an eleven seed to play either Texas Tech or Saint Mary’s in the first round. The Ducks join New Mexico, North Carolina State, the A-10 winner, and the AAC winner as teams that would not have been considered as bubble teams but secured an automatic bid by winning their conference tournament. It’ll be interesting to see if Dante can continue to create mismatches and establish his dominance in the big dance.
