Oregon and Liberty have never met on the basketball court and Ducks guard Keeshawn Barthelemy isn’t buying into talk his team holds the advantage in the first-round matchup.
No. 5 seed Oregon raced to get up to speed on the 12th-seeded Flames, the Ducks’ opponent in the East Region on Friday at Seattle.
Barthelemy didn’t need to study the bracket to know the 12-5 seeding matchup is one that often prompts an upset.
“They have to be a good team. We know they are going to be ready,” Barthelemy said. “Liberty is going to be ready and we know that 5-12 matchup is always something to look at.”
Oregon (24-9) started the season strong with nine straight wins and was 16-3 before dropping five straight games.
However, the Ducks rediscovered their form and won eight straight contests before losing to Michigan State in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals.
“I feel like we went through a little slump,” Oregon guard Jadrian Tracey said. “We just got back right. Every team goes through it.”
Liberty (28-6) won 12 of its first 13 games and then had a 5-4 stretch before getting back in gear. The Flames beat Jacksonville State in the Conference USA title game to earn the NCAA bid.
Liberty beat Kansas State of the Big 12 on a neutral floor in the Paradise Jam semifinals in the Virgin Islands around Thanksgiving. The Flames beat McNeese, which also made the NCAA field, the next day in the championship game.
Now Liberty coach Ritchie McKay gets the chance to match wits with Ducks coach Dana Altman.
“Coach Altman is a Hall of Famer. He’s tremendous,” McKay said. “I’ve followed his program and career. They will make it hard for you. They’ll try to take away what you do best. Mixing defenses. They have an offensive system that they will try and exploit what they think is your weakest point.”
What the Flames do well is hoist shots from outside. Liberty ranks sixth nationally with a 39.0 3-point percentage. The Flames make 10.6 per game, tied for 13th.
Second-leading scorer Kaden Metheny (13.5 points per game) has buried 99 3-pointers while taking nearly 72 percent of his shots from behind the arc. Leading scorer Taelon Peter (13.9) lights it up off the bench by making a stellar 46 percent of his treys. He has made 75.
“Oregon is a great team,” Metheny said. “We’ve got to believe in what we practice every day and trust what we do on a daily basis is going to be good enough to get the job done.”
The Flames are aware that Oregon is pretty happy to be playing in Seattle, located about 280 miles from Eugene.
“We were happy about it, yeah,” Altman said. “We thought Seattle and Denver were pretty good options for us.”
Liberty traveled nearly 2,800 miles from Lynchburg, Va., and also has a three-hour time difference with which to deal. But there is some familiarity from a November trip to the city for a road win over Seattle University.
Oregon is led by Nate Bittle with team-best averages of 14.1 points and 7.4 rebounds. Jackson Shelstad averages 13.2 and has drained 60 treys, tied for the team lead with Barthelemy (10.1).
The Ducks have won at least one game in each of its last eight visits to the NCAA Tournament. Liberty has one NCAA win in its history — an 80-76 win over Mississippi State in 2019.
The Flames feel they are ready for victory No. 2.
“We are in a really good groove,” Peter said. “We’re playing with a lot of confidence. We’re looking to continue to do that.”
The winner faces either No. 4 Arizona or No. 13 Akron.
