#3 Oregon - #14 Miami (Ohio) Preview

Oregon beat Miami 74-38 in a game played on Dec. 20th, 1938, in Cleveland.

Pac-10 Tournament MVP Tajuan Porter. Photo: goducks.com

EUGENE - Third-seeded Oregon will take on 14th-seeded Miami (Ohio) in an NCAA Tournament First Round game on Friday, at 2:00 PM in Spokane, Wash.

The winner of that game will face the winner of the No. 6 Notre Dame - No. 11 Winthrop game on Sunday.

Oregon is making its ninth NCAA Tournament appearance in school history and fourth under current coach Ernie Kent.

The Ducks last appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 2003, losing as a No. 8-seed in the first round to Utah 60-58.

The year before that (2002) as a No. 2 seed, the Pac-10 regular season champion Ducks advanced to the Elite Eight, defeating Montana, Wake Forest and Texas before falling to top-seeded Kansas.

It was Oregon’s first appearance in the Regional Final in 42 years. The Ducks also have NCAA appearances in 2000, 1995, 1961 and 1960.

Oregon won the very first NCAA Championship in 1939 (defeating Ohio State, 46-33), and the leading scorer in that game (16 points) Ret. Navy RAdmr.

John Dick, a UO season ticket holder who attends nearly every home game, is expected to accompany the team to Spokane.

Both Miami, of the Mid-American Conference, and Oregon qualified for the NCAA Tournament by winning their respective conference tournaments.

The Ducks are now the only team to have won the Pac-10 tournament twice since it was brought back in 2002.

Oregon and Miami met early in the Ducks’ 1938-39 NCAA Championship season.

Oregon beat Miami 74-38 in a game played on Dec. 20th, 1938, in Cleveland while the Ducks were on an eight-game road trip through New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and Iowa.

The Ducks this season were 16-2 at home, 6-5 in away games, and 4-0 on neutral courts.

CBS will televise all NCAA Tournament games live.

The announcers for the Spokane games are Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel.

Oregon is 5-2 against top 25 teams in 2006-07, having knocked off No. 18 Georgetown (Nov. 29th), No. 1 UCLA (Jan. 6th), No. 10 Arizona (Jan. 14th), No. 20 Washington State (Jan. 27th) and No. 9 Washington State (Feb. 22nd).

The Ducks last defeated five ranked teams in the same year during the 2001-02 season, when Oregon beat six ranked foes on the way to the Pac-10 Championship.

All five Oregon starters are scoring in double figures.

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