Oregon Basketball: 3 keys to beat Virginia in the Sweet 16

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 16: Ehab Amin #4 of the Oregon Ducks starts a fast break ahead of teammates Payton Pritchard #3 and Louis King #2 against the Washington Huskies during the championship game of the Pac-12 basketball tournament at T-Mobile Arena on March 16, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Ducks defeated the Huskies 68-48. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

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SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 22: The shoes of Payton Pritchard #3 of the Oregon Ducks in the first half during the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at SAP Center on March 22, 2019 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

2. Run, Run, Run

Oregon does not want to play a half-court game with Virginia. The Hoos’ pack-line defense is typically well-organized. It is designed to suffocate the post, prevent dribble penetration, accumulate help in the middle of the paint, apply ball pressure, and close out well on opposing shooters. As a result, Virginia ranks top-25 in both opposing 3-point and 2-point percentage.

If Oregon can get its transition game going, it can attack Virginia before its pack-line defense gets organized. This could result in scoring more points because Virginia’s transition defense ranks 131st in opposing field goal percentage. The Ducks can run by forcing turnovers or forcing bad shots. They can accomplish both by using their combo of length, athleticism, and ball pressure. Oregon’s defense will need to be good enough to energize its offense.

Virginia’s weakest link is Kihei Clark. The freshman point guard consistently makes bad passes and has turned it over five times in two tournament games thus far. A quarter of Oklahoma’s first 20 points came in transition as a direct result of his mistakes.

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