ANAHEIM, Calif, Sporting Alert — Follow live updates from the NCAA March Madness 2016 Tournament Elite 8 game between Oklahoma and Oregon in the West Region final at Honda Center in Anaheim, California on Saturday night.
Live on ESPN GameCast
The No. 1 seeded Ducks (28-6) knocked off defending champions Duke Blue Devils 82-68 on Thursday night in their Sweet 16 match with Dillon Brooks leading the way with a team-high 22 points and Elgin Cook added 16 points and nine rebounds.
I am impressed with Oregon’s athleticism. Brooks, Cook, Dorsey can flat-out play. Beating Duke in transition. The VBDI picked the Ducks.
— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) March 25, 2016
The Pac-12 outfits will target the second-seeded Sooners (25-7), who are peaking at the right time and are expected to be a handful for Oregon, which has won 11 straight games heading into this contest.
Oregon are listed as a one-point favorite against Oklahoma, but Dick Vitale, the experienced ESPN College Basketball Analyst, is giving the Sooners the edge.
Vitale admits that “both clubs offensively are doing a really great job” especially shooting from long-range.
However, the ESPN Analyst believes the Sooners, who have “held teams to 29-percent shooting from the 3 (point range), and the fact that “they are very athletic on the perimeter as well,” are a little better defensively.
Oklahoma will be led by superstar guard Buddy Hield, who is averaging 25.1 points per game and shooting 49.9-percent from the floor and 45.8-percent from long-range.
He is averaging 31.5 points per game in the NCAA Tournament.
Oklahoma is in the Elite Eight for the first time since 2009 while Oregon is playing in the Elite Eight for the first time since 2007.
