At least in the first round, the Ducks didn’t seem to miss the services of big man Chris Boucher, who is not seeing any action in the national tournament due to knee injury.
With Boucher sidelined the Ducks foiled Iona’s upset bid on Friday, as Oregon took down the Gaels, 93-77. Jordan Bell played the role of the interior anchor for Oregon, as he grabbed 12 rebounds and posted 17 points. Dillon Brooks, meanwhile, had an all-around performance against the Gaels, coming up with 18 points with four rebounds, four assists, and two blocks.
Staving off a hot Rhode Island in the second round of the tournament doesn’t seem to be an easy task for the Ducks, but they have the tools to stop the Rams on their tracks. Brooks is capable of influencing any game with his excellent play that makes him one of the best nations in the nation, albeit an underrated one. Rhode Island, however, can’t put too much focus on stopping Brooks, as the Ducks are more than a one-man team.
Tyler Dorsey, who is second on the team with 13.6 points per game, showed why Oregon isn’t all about Brooks, as he led the team with 24 points on 9-for-13 shooting in the Iona game. Dylan Ennis and Payton Pritchard have also shown the ability to step up their games. Pritchard caught fire from deep against Iona, finishing with 16 points with four three-pointers.
Oregon is 3-1-1 ATS in its last five games as favorite by six points or fewer.
Betting on the Rhode Island Rams (21-9, 13-5 Atlantic 10)
Getting past Creighton was worth a big celebration for Rhode Island. Taking down a tournament fixture like Oregon is going to be something else if they accomplished it later tonight.
Rhode Island leaned on a balanced scoring attack in the win over the Bluejays as every Rams starter put up at least 12 points, led by Jeff Dowtin’s 23 points. That’s a surprising contribution from Dowtin, who is only averaging 5.5 PPG on the season, but he’ll have to keep it going against a deeper team like Oregon.
It’s the guns of E.C Matthews and Hassan Martin that Rhode Island need to keep hot the most. Matthews, who lead the team with 14.9 PPG, scored 12 points against Creighton, while Martin (14.1 PPG) put up 16, though on a salty 3-for-12 shooting from the field. He was a perfect 10-for-10 from the charity stripe, however.
Rhode Island held the Bluejays to only 40.0% shooting from the field but let Creighton make seven treys. Taking away their opponents’ outside shooting has been a strong suit for the Rams, as they limit teams to only 29.1% shooting from downtown. Their ability to cool Oregon from deep is going to be factor in tonight’s contest. Oregon hit nine threes in against Iona.
Rhode Island is 5-5 ATS in its last 10 games as the underdog.
Writer’s Prediction
Oregon (-5.5) sends the Rams home in an 85-73 win.
