2014 NCAA Tournament: Oregon Ducks Shut Down the BYU Cougars
By Cam Newton
Mar 20, 2014; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Oregon Ducks guard Damyean Dotson (21) fights for a rebound with Brigham Young Cougars forward Eric Mika (00) during the second round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Ducks versus Cougars. In the animal kingdom, the winner of this match-up is a foregone conclusion. In college basketball, the outcome is much different. From the beginning of this game, it looked it was going to shape up to be a good one down the stretch. The game was fairly even throughout most of the first half and the Oregon Ducks led BYU by eight points at halftime.
The second half told a different story. Oregon came out of halftime and was driving straight to the basket without much BYU opposition, leading to a sizable lead being opened up. Despite this, BYU was able to charge back and pull within three points after the skilled shooter Matt Carlino nailed two three pointers within one minute.
Oregon proceeded to respond to the run well, to say the least. The Ducks went on an absolute tear from that point on, going on a 31-15 scoring run to end the game. BYU could not keep up with Oregon and their post presence, due to the critical injury of Kyle Collingsworth. Oregon dominated the inside game, padding their shooting percentage (which they led BYU in by almost eighteen percentage points).
The Ducks followed suit with most other games that have taken place so far, as the majority have been huge blowouts. Thank God for that Dayton upset, otherwise this would have been a fairly boring start to March Madness.
Oregon now proceeds to the round of thirty-two to face the two seed in the West Region, Wisconsin. The Badgers had their own blowout today, beating American by forty points.
Follow along with all of today’s action on Busting Brackets’s live thread and feel free to chime in with your own opinions!