Shelstad, Oregon Ducks fly over 12 seed Liberty, get old Pac-12 foe Arizona in 2nd round
It’s going to be Oregon and Arizona in an ol’ Pac-12 revival, for a spot in the Sweet 16.
Jackson Shelstad made sure of that right away Friday night.
Shelstad nailed two step-back jumpers and a pull-up 3-pointer without a miss in a 3 of the first 5 1/2 minutes of the first half against Liberty at Climate Pledge Arena. His eight points in Oregon’s 13-0 run early put the Ducks up 18-2 — and buried the 12 seed Flames.
Shelstad finished with 17 points, shooting 7 for 11 from the field. Nate Bittle added 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Ducks. Despite boos early from Washington and Washington State fans in the crowd of 16,978 who soon gave up jeering, five seed Oregon kept its first season in the Big Ten going with a runaway 81-52 win in the first round of the NCAA tournament, March Madness’ return to Seattle.
The Ducks improved to 8-0 in first-round NCAA tournament games under 15th-year Oregon coach Dana Altman. The Ducks’ 77 wins in March since Altman took charge in Eugene in 2010-11 is the nation’s most in that span.
Their runaway win sets up an old Pac-12 revival Sunday in the second round between Oregon and Arizona. The fourth-seeded Wildcats routed 13 seed Akron 93-65 in the third of the four, mostly lopsided games of round one in Seattle Friday.
The winner of Ducks-Wildcats Sunday will advance to the East regional semifinals, the Sweet 16, next week in Newark, New Jersey.
Altman has led Oregon to five Sweet 16s, two Elite Eights and one Final Four.
Oregon and Arizona have met 93 times. The first meeting was at McArthur Court in Eugene in January 1979, the second year the Wildcats were in the old Pac-8. Arizona leads the series 55-38.
The Ducks and ‘Cats met six times in the old Pac-10 and Pac-12 tournaments in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
Sunday will be their first-ever meeting in the NCAA tournament.
“Yeah, we know what we have to do to beat them,” Bittle said. “Defense and rebounding.”
Shelstad was a starter on Oregon’s 2024 NCAA tourney team that lost in the second round to Creighton in double overtime last March. Friday night, the lead his sharp shooting gave the Ducks early grew to 39-16 late in the first half. That was after a 3-pointer then a driving layup by Jadrian “Bam” Tracey (seven points).
“I mean, that one definitely hurt,” Shelstad said of the Ducks’ loss to Creighton in last year’s NCAAs.
“Just trying to carry over that leadership from the experience.”
Shelstad did it all. Shooting. Defending. Rebounding. And much more.
In the final seconds of the first half, Shelstad made a pullup jumper. Then when Liberty rolled the ensuing inbounds pass in the backcourt to use remaining clock in the half, Shelstad dived across the March Madness logo in ther middle of the floor. He stole the ball. He got up, then hit a pull-up 3 with 5 seconds left in the half.
The Ducks bench and fans went went nuts. Oregon led 44-20 at the half.
Altman said “coaches loves those plays.”
The mostly Ducks crowd packing Climate Pledge Arena roared the entire first half. They mostly watched more like theater patrons from there, as Oregon merely coasted the final 25 minutes of the game to preserve themselves for round two Sunday.
Like fellow mid-major Akron in losing to Arizona in the game before, smaller Conference USA-champion Liberty (28-7) had to rely on — and die with — outside shooting against a much bigger, stronger power. The Flames flamed out on season-low 33% shooting, including just 21.6% (8 for 37) from 3-point range. They kept trying to deep-shoot their way out of a game that was long lost.
“Congratulations to Oregon. They were really, really good,” Liberty coach Ritchie McKay. “That was as formidable a team as we’ve played in a long time.
The veteran coach noted his Flames lost by more points tonight than in their other six losses combined this season.
Zach Cleveland had 10 points, six rebounds and six assists to lead Liberty, which is now 1-6 in six NCAA tournament appearances all-time dating to its first one in 1994.
“I thought the fellas came out with a lot of energy,” Altman said. “I thought our defensive activity was really, really good.”
It was another game of haves versus would-love-to-haves in the Seattle first round. The four games Friday at Climate Pledge Arena were decided by an average of 24.5 points. The closest game was Colorado State’s 78-70 win over Memphis in the first contest of the day.
Colorado State will play Maryland, an 81-48 winner over Grand Canyon, in the second round of the West region Sunday on the Seattle Center campus. It is hosting the men’s NCAA tournament for the first time in a decade, since the building was since-razed KeyArena.
This story was originally published March 21, 2025 at 9:23 PM with the headline "Shelstad, Oregon Ducks fly over 12 seed Liberty, get old Pac-12 foe Arizona in 2nd round."
