NCAA Tournament 2019: Top takeaways from 2nd half of Round of 32 games

8) I don’t trust Oregon‘s offense

Oregon might be the hottest team in the country thanks to their current 10-game win streak that has made them the lowest seed to make the Sweet 16 this year – by a wide margin.

We’ve discussed Oregon’s outstanding defense several times over the past week and it remains as stingy as ever as they allowed just 54 points against UC Irvine. They’re also very athletic, which I’m mentioning again just so I can show you more Kenny Wooten highlights.

But for as fun as this Oregon run is and has been, we’re getting down to the best of the best and there is one thing that concerns me about this chances to continue this run, and that’s their half-court offense.

The Ducks are fantastic in transition, can be expected given their athleticism, and their defense lends itself to many transition opportunities. Yet when they’re forced to slow down, Oregon can struggle.

Against UC Irvine, they went roughly nine minutes without scoring. Nine minutes! They were able to get by against the Anteaters but up next is a Virginia team that will force the Ducks to play in the half court and will punish them if they go that long without scoring.

The Ducks are the closest thing the Sweet 16 has to a Cinderella, and they don’t really count given they come from a power conference and were ranked in the top 15 in the preseason. However, Sunday’s results set up a Sweet 16 full of mammoth matchups and high-quality basketball.