The 2nd Round of the NCAA tournament takes place today and we will see the Oregon Ducks take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys. The game is scheduled for a 4:40 pm (Eastern) start time and will be televised on TNT. Currently the Odds for the game have Oklahoma State favored by 2 points while the total sits at 134.
Analysis: A Pac-12 tournament title, a second-place finish in the regular season and a ranking in the final AP poll added up to very little for Oregon when it came time for NCAA tournament seeding. The Ducks (26-8) ended up with the 12th seed in the Midwest Region in what was one of the more questioned decisions made by the tournament selection committee. For Oregon, the slight wasn't all bad as they get to stay on the West Coast this weekend in San Jose when they take on fifth-seeded Oklahoma State (24-8). The Ducks were ranked as high as 10th this season before a foot injury to point guard Dominic Artis sent their season into a spiral. Oregon went just 5-4 with Artis sidelined and then lost back-to-back games to Colorado and Utah with Artis back in the lineup to miss a chance to finish first in the Pac-12. But the Ducks rolled through the conference tournament, beating UCLA 78-69 in the final for their first Pac-12 tournament title even if that didn't lead to a better seeding. The best news Oregon received all season was back in November, when it was announced that senior forward Arsalan Kazemi had received a waiver from the NCAA to play for the Ducks after transferring from Rice during the summer. He missed the first two games but has since been an integral part of Oregon’s success, averaging 9.3 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.1 steals, the latter two stats ranking third in the conference.
The Cowboys are returning to the tournament for the first time since 2010, when they lost their opener to Georgia Tech. Oklahoma State is looking for its first win since beating Tennessee in the opening round of the 2009 tournament. The Cowboys last played a Pac-12 team at the 2011 NIT Preseason Tournament in Madison Square Garden, losing to Stanford 82-67. Led by star freshman and Big 12 player of the year Marcus Smart, the Cowboys are back with their highest seed in eight years. They won 11 of their last 13 regular-season games and finished third in the Big 12 before losing to Kansas State in the semifinals of the conference tournament. Smart averaged 15.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.9 steals per game to lead Oklahoma State's resurgence. But with Smart considered one of the top NBA prospects in all of college, this could be the Cowboys' only tournament chance with him. Smart teams with scorer Markel Brown to form a dynamic backcourt for the Cowboys who also have deadeye outside shooter Phil Forte coming off the bench.
Pick: I like the Ducks to get the job done in this one. Since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, a No. 12 seed has beaten a No. 5 seed 37 times, including twice last season. Well I see it happening in this game. The Ducks had a very good run through the Pac-12 tournament and their reward is an 11 seed. This is a team that will be playing with a chip on their shoulders. The Numbers are fairly even between these teams, but the Ducks are playing slight better on defense right now, allowing 67.8 ppg in their last 5 games, while the Cowboys have allowed 72.4 ppg over he same stretch. Not often do you see a 12th seed taking on a 5th seed as just a 2 points and that has to tell ya something right there. The Committee got this one wrong and Oregon will show them how wrong they were by taking the upset in this one.
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