Oregon routs Liberty 81-52 in March Madness opener
SEATTLE (AP) — Jackson Shelstad scored 15 of his 17 points in the first half, and fifth-seeded Oregon routed No. 12 seed Liberty 81-52 on Friday night to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Oregon (25-9) goes on to face Arizona in the East Region on Sunday. Arizona routed Akron 93-65 in an earlier game, setting up the second-round meeting between the two former Pac-12 schools.
Oregon’s 7-foot center Nate Bittle finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds and the Ducks led by as many as 34 points. Coach Dana Altman had pulled all his starters with 3:44 to go.
“It’s just one of those games where they didn’t have anybody that was bigger than 6-8, 6-9, so I knew that crashing the glass and going to the rim aggressively was what I needed to do,” Bittle said.
Zach Cleveland had 10 points and was Liberty’s lone player in double figures. The Flames made just eight of 37 3-point attempts (22%) and had their lowest scoring output of the season.
With their distinct size advantage, the Ducks jumped out to an 18-2 lead after TJ Bamba’s fast-break layup.
“We felt like if we could get some hands on some balls and disrupt their rhythm that we could really take away some of the really good looks they’ve been getting,” Altman said. “I think the first five or six minutes we had seven deflections, and that’s where we jumped out to that 18-2 lead. And in that, they had one open 3, they got one right in front of our bench there. But I thought our defensive activity was really good.”
Shelstad was key to that fast start with got eight points within the first five minutes. The Ducks went on to a 44-20 lead at the break.
“When you hit your first couple of shots, obviously it just gives you some confidence. And my teammates did a really good job just getting me open looks as well,” Shelstad said.
Oregon was an at-large selection after losing 74-64 to Michigan State in the quarterfinals of Oregon’s first Big Ten tournament after realignment.
Liberty (28-7) won the the Conference USA tournament and regular-season title in just its second year in the league. But Kaden Metheny, who averaged 20.3 points across the three games and was voted tournament MVP, had just nine points Friday.
“We were getting some great looks there for a minute, but once they got up big, then obviously we started trying to rush a little bit and trying to get back,” Metheny said.
Altman has led his team to the NCAA Tournament nine times in 15 years, advancing out of the first round each time. Oregon has made five Sweet 16s, two Elite Eights and the 2017 Final Four in that span.
The Flames were in the NCAAs for the third time in six tournaments under Ritchie McKay, which included pulling a 12-vs.-5 upset against Mississippi State in the 2019 first round.
Experience
The Ducks have four players from last year’s NCAA Tournament: Shelstad, Keeshawn Barthelemy, Kwame Evans Jr. and Jadrian Tracey. The Ducks downed South Carolina in the opening round before falling 86-74 in double overtime to Creighton.
“Just trying to carry over that leadership from the experience I got last year in the tournament. You know, we have a lot of guys first time playing in a tournament,” Shelstad said. “So for me, Bam (Jadrian Tracey), KJ (Kwame Evans Jr.) we just kind of bring leadership from last year with our experience.”
Road Warriors
The Ducks traveled further for the Big Ten Tournament than they did for the NCAA Tournament. From Eugene to Seattle it’s about 230 miles, while the trip to Indianapolis was some 2,250 miles.
___
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here.
By ANNE M. PETERSON
AP Sports Writer
