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SAN JOSE – Cinderella was buried Sunday night, while the Pac-12 lives on.
No. 12 Oregon continued its torrid postseason run, pulling away for a 73-54 win over No. 13 UC Irvine in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at San Jose’s SAP Center.
The 10th straight win for the Ducks (25-12) helps salvage another dismal year for the Pac-12 by ensuring the conference would be represented in the Sweet 16 – and eliminated the last remaining team from a one-bid conference.
Six-foot-2 junior Payton Pritchard, the only Oregon starter who isn’t listed as 6-9, had 18 points and seven assists, and sophomore Kenny Wooten added 11 points, eight rebounds and seven blocks. Wooten’s rim protection allowed the Ducks to be aggressive on the perimeter, which turned into a 25-10 edge in points off turnovers.
The Anteaters (31-6) had won 17 in a row, including their first-ever NCAA win Friday against No. 4 Kansas State.
“I know we didn’t win tonight. But honestly, walking off that court, I can’t even really be mad about it,” said UC Irvine senior Jonathan Galloway, a product of Richmond’s Salesian High. “Oregon is a great team, and they outplayed us tonight. But overall, we had a great season.”
Before the game, the Big West champions watched video of their win at Texas A&M, when they overcame a 14-point second half deficit. On Sunday, they overcame a 35-23 halftime deficit by opening the second half with 14 straight points as Oregon missed its first 11 shots.
But the Ducks finally got on the board with 12:28 left on a 3-pointer by Ehab Amin, followed by another 3 by Louis King. That started a 36-12 run that put the game away.
“Once we got a couple of baskets, our energy level went way up,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “Ehab had some key steals, and then we just started bouncing around again. I put them to sleep at halftime with my speech, I think, and we were really struggling there to start the second half.”
Oregon gave up 62 points in a half against UCLA on Feb. 23 to fall to 15-12. Now it has only allowed 62 points in a game just once during the 10-game win streak, which includes a 20-point win in the Pac-12 Tournament final against Washington and an 18-point win over No. 5 Wisconsin in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday.
“I really credit the players for staying with it, you know, because they could have gave into it at any time,” Altman said. “I mean, bad losses, and I’m getting into practice and barking at them and trying to drive them a little bit to get them better. When you’re facing that, it’s easy to kind of give into it. So I’m really proud of the way they just kept fighting and stayed with it.”
The Ducks, who also went 2-0 as a No. 12 seed when they came to San Jose for the first two rounds in 2013, are the only double-digit seed left in the tournament. They are now will face No. 1 Virginia Thursday in the South Regional in Louisville in their third Sweet 16 appearance in four years.
The Pac-12 failed to win a game in March Madness last season, but the conference is 4-2 this year, including a first-round win by Washington and a play-in win by Arizona State.