Virginia vs. Oregon NCAA Tournament Prediction, Game Preview

By Pete Fiutak | March 26, 2019 1:38 am

NCAA Tournament: Virginia vs. Oregon fearless prediction and game preview.

Broadcast

Date: Thursday, March 28
Game Time: 10:00 pm ET
Venue: KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, KY
Network: TBS

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All You Really Need To Know About Virginia (31-3)

(ACC), NCAA NET Rank: 1. South 1-seed
There we go, Virginia.

After a miserable first half against Gardner-Webb to start the tournament, the Cavaliers got the job done in the second half, and then rolled by Oklahoma by being all Virginia. The defense was strong, the offense was on from the field, there weren’t a lot of mistakes, and …

The free throws? The Cavaliers only hit 2-of-5 from the line, but that’s an anomaly. On the plus side, they outrebounded the Sooners 36-29, taking away the big plays on miss after miss. This might not be the most exciting team in the Sweet 16, but its formula appears to be working just fine.

All You Really Need To Know About Oregon (25-12)

(Pac-12), NCAA NET Rank: 51. South 9-seed

The Ducks got the break by getting 13-seeded UC Irvine in the second round, and they jumped all over the game from the start in a 73-54 win. The offense was lights out – especially from the outside – there weren’t a lot of mistakes, and the defense was a killer, keeping the Anteaters to just 5-of-18 from beyond the arc.

The Pac-12 Tournament champs aren’t exactly playing with house money – they’re good enough to pull this off against the Cavaliers. They have the defense, the athleticism, and the ability to out-Virginia, Virginia.

The pressure will be there from the guards for a full 40 minutes, and they’re more than fine playing a slugfest type of low-scoring battle.

What’s Going To Happen

Oregon forces more steals than Virginia, is every bit as good at defending the three, and it’s better on the boards. The Cavaliers might not bomb from three all that much, but they need to make the ones they take. Against the Duck D, they won’t be able to.