After a three-day hiatus, the NCAA tournament returns Thursday evening with the Sweet 16 in the South and West regions. The Blue Devils will take on top-seeded Oregon in the second game of the night from the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. The West was the only region to advance the top four seeds to the second region, and The Chronicle breaks down each remaining team below:
1. Oregon Ducks (30-6, 14-4 in the Pac-12)
How they got here: Oregon cruised into the Round of 32 with a 39-point rout of 16th-seeded Holy Cross, but things got much tougher in the second round against St. Joseph’s. The Ducks opened up a 45-35 lead early in the second half, but the Hawks used a 23-6 run to seize a 58-51 advantage with 5:33 left. With their postseason hopes on the ropes, Dillon Brooks and Tyler Dorsey went to work, scoring eight of Oregon’s next 10 points to grab back the lead with less than two minutes left. Three different players hit a pair of free throws in the final 35 seconds to seal the win for the Ducks, who are the only Pac-12 team remaining in the field.
Head coach Dana Altman has gotten production from a number of players through the first two games, but Brooks has been the most consistent, averaging 18.0 points per contest as Oregon’s stretch four. Six-foot-10 center Chris Boucher feasted inside against Holy Cross’ smaller front line in the first round for 20 points, but managed just two against the Hawks.
How they reach Houston: Brooks’ ability to drive the lane gets opposing frontcourts in foul trouble, and Dorsey heats up from the perimeter.
Quotable: “This is a point in our time that we need to play well. We need to play well on the national stage against someone that is very good and has proven themselves”
—head coach Dana Altman on gaining national recognition
2. Oklahoma Sooners (27-7, 12-6 in the Big 12)
How they got here: Oklahoma made its second straight Sweet 16 the same way it earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament—by riding the hot shooting of National Player of the Year candidate Buddy Hield and providing Hield with enough support from fellow guards Isaiah Cousins and Jordan Woodard to pull away from teams late. Hield erupted for 19 points in the final eight minutes of Sunday’s second-round contest against 10th-seeded Virginia Commonwealth and finished with 36 points after a slow start. Woodard and Cousins combined for 32 points to send the Sooners past the Rams 85-81. Oklahoma’s first-round game against Cal State Bakersfield followed a similar script, with Hield pouring in 16 of his 27 points in the final 13:30 of the contest and Woodard and Cousins backing up their superstar teammate with 31 total points in an 82-68 win.
How they reach Houston: The Sooner guards continue their hot shooting late in games and get some much-needed support from big men Ryan Spangler and Khadeem Lattin on both ends of the court.
Quotable: “I got to watch it, and it was crazy. What they did was remarkable and I respect their fight.When we play them, if we get up a big lead, we can’t take that lead for granted because we know they’re capable of making a run”
—Buddy Hield on Texas A&M’s comeback win against Northern Iowa
3. Texas A&M Aggies (26-8, 13-5 in the SEC)
How they got here: Down 12 with 44 seconds remaining in the second round against No. 11 seed Northern Iowa, the Aggies appeared on the verge of bowing out of the tournament. But Texas A&M mounted the largest last-minute comeback in college basketball history, going on a 14-2 run to end regulation to send the game to overtime. The Aggies eventually emerged in double-overtime with a 92-88 victory.
Guard Danuel House followed his team-high 20 points in the Aggies’ 92-65 first-round win against Wisconsin-Greeen Bay with 22 more against the Panthers—most of which came in the final minute of regulation and the two overtimes.
How they reach Houston: Texas A&M will not have the luxury of surviving a slow start against the explosive Buddy Hield and second-seeded Oklahoma. But with a big performance from House and big contributions from senior guards Alex Caruso and Jalen Jones, the Aggies have enough firepower to head home for a chance to win the championship.
Quotable: “We got home 1:30 or 2 a.m. Sunday night or Monday early in the morning, and my wife and I we watched SportsCenter, we watched everything, and tried to enjoy it for about two hours. Unfortunately we were up till about 3:30 or 4:00. They replayed the game actually on CBS when we got home, so a lot of our guys even watched it”
—head coach Billy Kennedy on the dramatic win against Northern Iowa
4. Duke Blue Devils (25-10, 11-7 in the ACC)
How they got here: The fourth-seeded Blue Devils trailed by three at halftime in the first round against UNC-Wilmington, but they solved the Seahawks’ press after the break and avoided the upset with a barrage of lobs to Marshall Plumlee, who poured in a career-high 23 points on 9-of-10 shooting in a fast-paced 93-85 victory. The Blue Devils followed that up with one of their best halves of the season against No. 12 Yale, jumping out to a 46-19 lead behind lights-out shooting from Grayson Allen and Luke Kennard. The Bulldogs nearly stormed all the way back, trimming the deficit to three in the final minute, but Duke held them off to win 71-64. Allen is averaging 26.0 points per game in the tournament’s first two games and leads the Blue Devils with 21.8 points per game this season.
How they reach Houston: The Blue Devils shoot at least 50 percent from long range and Plumlee avoids foul trouble to be a formidable defensive presence in the post as every player in the rotation steps up to push Duke past two strong opponents and into the Final Four.
Quotable: “They’re a very athletic team. You look at them and you could argue they’re one of the most athletic teams in the country with a combination of size and just athleticism they put on the court. Their guys attack you”
—Grayson Allen on Oregon
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