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NCAA Tournament Predictions: 5. Oklahoma State vs. 12. Oregon
- Updated: March 18, 2013
Guard Marcus Smart (AP)
Oklahoma State (24-8, 13-5 Big 12)-Point guard Marcus Smart nearly has Jason Kidd numbers. Seriously. The freshman is averaging 15.4 points per game, 5.7 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 2.9 steals. Kidd’s numbers as a freshman: 13 points, 5 rebounds, 7.7 assists and 3.8 steals. It’s no wonder why Smart was named Big 12 Player of the Year and will be one of the top picks in the 2013 NBA Draft.
Guard Markel Brown isn’t a bad second option. Brown averages 15.3 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. He scored 28 in the Cowboys’ 85-80 win at Allen Fieldhouse earlier this season. He’s also the de-facto leader on the team as a junior, as Smart and super-athletic forward Le’Bryan Nash (14.1 ppg) are both underclassmen. Nash is an underrated player, and this team is underrated as a whole.
KEY STATS:
227th Assists Per Game (12.1)
24th Opponents’ Field Goal Percentage (39.0)
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Guard Damyean Dotson
12 Oregon (26-8, 12-6 Pac-12)- The Ducks got jobbed by the selection committee. Oregon won 26 games, finished one game out of the Pac-12 regular season title, and a win over Arizona and two wins over UCLA. Not to mention the fact that they won the Pac-12 tournament championship. Oregon ranked as high as 8th in the country in mid-January and admittedly stumbled for a while, but the Ducks deserved a much better seed than it ended up with. This isn’t fair to Oregon, nor is it fair to Oklahoma State, who now has to play them.
E.J. Singler, brother of former Duke star Kyle, leads the team in scoring at 11.6 points per game. The Ducks have a solid post presence in forward Carlos Emory, and have speedy guards in freshman Damyean Dotson and Tony Woods.
KEY STATS:
97th Field Goal Percentage (.447)
69th Points Per Game (71.7)
PREDICTION: Oklahoma State
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