NCAA Tournament Preview: No. 1 Oregon vs. No. 4 Duke

On Thursday, Mar. 24, the Oregon Ducks and the Duke Blue Devils meet in a Sweet 16 matchup between two of the best offenses in the country. Although both teams can score, the Ducks are clearly superior.

After the loss of Amile Jefferson, Duke was left with a thin rotation that lacked size. Their defense has at times been awful, as evidenced by allowing 85 first-half points against the UNC Wilmington Seahawks and 39 points to the Yale Bulldogs in the second half, in their first two tournament games.

That defense will have their hands full against dead-eye shooter Tyler Dorsey and First-Team All-Pac-12 performer Dillon Brooks. Brooks scored 25 points in 36 minutes of Oregon’s Round of 32 win against the Saint Joseph’s Redhawks. He’s their go-to guy. Duke has two of them, and they will both need huge games for the Blue Devils to pull off an unlikely upset.

Grayson Allen and Brandon Ingram played all 40 minutes of the game against Yale, combining for 54 of the Blue Devils’ 71 points. After amassing such an incredible first-half lead, Duke’s flaws revealed themselves, showing why the team isn’t a title contender this time around. As great as Allen and Ingram are offensively, both players have defensive issues (specifically Allen) that hurt the Blue Devils.

This game has the potential to be high scoring and fun to watch. It could be played with scores in the 90s. Ultimately, Oregon will earn some respect and move on to the Elite Eight, knocking off the defending National Champs.