By Joe Coopersmith
EUGENE, Ore. — Oregon men’s basketball received the No. 11 seed in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday and will play the No. 6 seeded South Carolina Gamecocks on Thursday in Pittsburgh, Penn.
The reigning Pac-12 Tournament champions will travel to Pittsburgh on Tuesday morning, in preparation for the 4 p.m. ET gametime on Thursday in PPG Paints Arena. Oregon is back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019 after winning three games in three days to take home the last Pac-12 Tournament title.
“It never gets old,” Oregon head coach Dana Altman said. “It does leave an empty feeling when you’re not involved. The guys were excited. They were real excited last night.”
This is the first meeting between the programs. South Carolina finished 26-7 on the season and 13-5 in league play, good enough for second in the SEC. Oregon senior guard Jermaine Couisnard played the first four seasons of his career at South Carolina, appearing in 73 games (46 starts) for the Gamecocks.
“It’s a good opportunity for us,” Couisnard said. “I know a couple of those guys over there, a couple of the strength coaches, trainers. It’s going to be a fun game.”
The opening round game will be broadcast on TNT and the winner will play the winner of the Creighton versus Akron game on Saturday.
GAME NOTES
https://goducks.com/documents/2024/3/19/NCAA_Tournament_-_Oregon_vs._South_Carolina.pdf
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Gamecocks seeking ninth all-time NCAA Tournament win and 27th victory this season, which would be a new program record
SOUTH CAROLINA GAME NOTES
https://storage.googleapis.com/gamecocksonline-com/2024/03/61d6e8d7-game-34-oregon-ncaa64.pdf
OREGON GAME NOTES
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – No. 16/17 South Carolina (26-7, 13-5 SEC) faces Oregon (23-11, 12-8 Pac-12) in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m. (ET) with Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas and Evan Washburn on the call for the TNT broadcast.
The Gamecocks, seeded sixth in the NCAA Midwest Regional, are playing in March Madness for the first time since the historic 2017 Final Four run. The team is making its 10th appearance all-time in the NCAA Tournament at PPG Paints Arena this week.
Carolina received an at-large bid after one of the best regular seasons in program history. The Ducks won the Pac-12 Tournament to punch their ticket to the Big Dance last Saturday in Las Vegas. Oregon is the No. 11 seed in the Midwest Regional.
Head coach Lamont Paris, the SEC Coach of the Year and a candidate for several major National Coach of the Year awards, is seeking to become just the third coach in program history to win an NCAA Tournament game joining Frank McGuire and Frank Martin.
A victory in the opening round would also be a new program record for single-season wins.
VENUE: PPG Paints Arena
BROADCAST: TNT
PLAY-BY-PLAY: Andrew Catalon
ANALYST: Steve Lappas
REPORTER: Evan Washburn
RADIO: Gamecock Radio Network
IN COLUMBIA: 107.5 The Game
PLAY-BY-PLAY: Derek Scott
ANALYST: Casey Manning
SIRIUSXM: 210 or 203 | SXM APP: 966
WATCH: NCAA.com
LIVE STATS: NCAA.com
SERIES: first all-time meeting
NEUTRAL: first all-time meeting
SERIES TREND: first all-time meeting
LAST NCAA TOURNAMENT GAME: 77-73 Gonzaga win on April 1, 2017 in Phoenix, Ariz. at the Final Four.
UP NEXT
With a victory, the Gamecocks will face the winner of No. 3 seed Creighton (23-9, 14-6 Big East) and No. 14 seed Akron (24-10, 13-5 MAC) in in the round of 32 with a trip to the Sweet16 on the line. Catalon, Lappas and Washburn will remain on the call. Tip time and network assignment are TBD.
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