On Saturday night the No. 8 seed NC State Wolfpack took down the No. 1 seed Villanova Wildcats. The Oregon Ducks look to do the same against the Wisconsin Badgers in a second round tournament rematch from 2014.
Oregon and Wisconsin utilized their offensive firepower to get past their opponents on Friday and now the two will square off on Sunday at 7:45 pm ET in Omaha, NE. However, it won't be easier for either of them this time around.
The Ducks (26-9) took down Oklahoma State 79-73 behind Pac-12 Player of the Year Joseph Young. The guard dropped 27 points and added four rebounds and four assists to give Oregon their 15th win in their past 17 games. They now find themselves in a similar situation as last year's NCAA Tournament, when they defeated BYU in the first round and earned themselves a matchup against Wisconsin in the second round. The Ducks lost that game 85-77.
Wisconsin (32-3) moved past Oregon in 2014 and went on to defeat Baylor and Arizona before losing to Kentucky in the National Semifinal. The Badgers were a No. 2 seed last year and are in a better situation as a No. 1 in 2015, but have a similar road in having to face Oregon again while also having Arizona and Kentucky on their side of the bracket.
Forward Frank Kaminsky, the Big Ten Player of the Year, is the Badgers' leading scorer (18.2 ppg) and rebounder (8.0 rpg) and showed off those skills in the team's first tournament game against Coastal Carolina. The seven-footer posted 27 points, 12 rebounds and four assists, all of which led the team en route to their 86-72 win.
Tonight presents another intriguing second round matchup for a No.1 seed. Kentucky and Duke had no trouble getting by their second round opponents in Cincinnati and San Diego State, while Villanova was dropped by NC State. Wisconsin certainly has the advantage in this game, but Oregon poses a threat since they have experience in facing one of the nation's top teams. They saw Arizona three times in Pac-12 play despite being blown out in each contest.
Here are some crucial stats to know before tip-off tonight.
Oregon | Wisconsin |
RPI - .5947 (26th overall) | RPI - .6630 (2nd overall) |
SOS - 48 | SOS - 16 |
Points Per Game - 75.6 (26th overall) | Points Per Game - 71.9 (67th overall) |
FG% - .461 (63rd overall) | FG% - .480 (21st overall) |
Points Allowed Per Game - 70.8 (286th overall) | Points Allowed Per Game - 56.6 (9th overall) |
Turnovers Per Game - 11.8 (101st overall) | Turnovers Per Game - 7.5 (1st overall) |
Season Rank - 26 | Season Rank - 3 |
Check out the live stream of Oregon vs. Wisconsin here and the live radio broadcast here. The game will be televised on truTV.
