NCAAB

Liberty Flames at Oregon Ducks

· Men's Basketball Championship - East Region - 1st Round
28-7, 9-2 Away
Final
52 - 81
25-9, 12-4 Home

Oregon routs Liberty 81-52 in March Madness opener

Kwame Evans Jr. elevates for an Oregon alley-oop jam

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.

How can I watch Liberty vs. Oregon?

  • TV Channel: Liberty at Oregon 2021 College Basketball, week 1, is broadcasted on truTV.
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Recent Plays

2nd 0:00 End of Game 52 - 81
2nd 0:00 End of 2nd half 52 - 81
2nd 0:12 Brett Decker Jr. made Three Point Jumper. 52 - 81
2nd 0:24 Mookie Cook made Three Point Jumper. 49 - 81
2nd 0:30 Jamari Phillips Defensive Rebound. 49 - 78

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/ncaa/500/2335.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originLIB https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/ncaa/500/2483.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originORE
20-61 FG 31-57
32.8 Field Goal % 54.4
8-37 3PT 10-21
21.6 Three Point % 47.6
4-8 FT 9-11
50.0 Free Throw % 81.8
27 Rebounds 43
9 Offensive Rebounds 9
18 Defensive Rebounds 34
14 Assists 12
6 Steals 11
4 Blocks 2
12 Turnovers 14
0 Team Turnovers 0
12 Total Turnovers 14
0 Technical Fouls 0
0 Total Technical Fouls 0
0 Flagrant Fouls 0
14 Points Off Turnovers 17
2 Fast Break Points 11
22 Points in Paint 30
11 Fouls 10
0 Largest Lead 34

Game Information

Venue: Climate Pledge Arena

Location: Seattle, WA
Attendance: 16,978 | Capacity:

2024-25 Conference USA Standings

TEAM CONF GB OVER
Liberty 13-5 - 28-7
Middle Tennessee 12-6 1 22-12
Jacksonville State 12-6 1 23-13
Kennesaw State 10-8 3 19-14
New Mexico State 10-8 3 17-15
Louisiana Tech 9-9 4 20-12
Western Kentucky 8-10 5 17-15
UTEP 7-11 6 18-15
Sam Houston 6-12 7 13-19
Florida International 3-15 10 10-23

2024-25 Big Ten Conference Standings

TEAM CONF GB OVER
Michigan State 17-3 - 30-7
Maryland 14-6 3 27-9
Michigan 14-6 3 27-10
Wisconsin 13-7 4 27-10
UCLA 13-7 4 23-11
Purdue 13-7 4 24-12
Oregon 12-8 5 25-10
Illinois 12-8 5 22-13
Indiana 10-10 7 19-13
Ohio State 9-11 8 17-15
Rutgers 8-12 9 15-17
Nebraska 7-13 10 19-14
Northwestern 7-13 10 17-16
Iowa 7-13 10 17-16
USC 7-13 10 17-18
Minnesota 7-13 10 15-17
Penn State 6-14 11 16-15
Washington 4-16 13 13-18
Full Standings