Oregon team to watch as Pac-12 tournament begins

Oregon is safely in the NCAA Tournament, The only question for the Ducks is a matter of seeding.

They can improve their standing with a strong run in the Pac-12 tournament, which opens Wednesday at T-Mobile Arena.

“Some coaches: ‘Well, the conference tournament, if we play well, we play well. If we don’t, don’t.’” Oregon coach Dana Altman said.

The Ducks are different. “Winning’s still winning,” Altman said. “You’ve got to go and play and keep the competitiveness going and play as hard as you can. If we’re fortunate enough to play three games, great.”

The 13th-ranked Ducks (24-7) are listed by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi as the No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament’s South Region. Oregon, which is seeded first in the Pac-12 tournament, plays its opening game at noon Thursday against the winner of Wednesday’s first-round game between No. 8 Oregon State (17-13) and No. 9 Utah (16-14).

Oregon is the team to watch, but there are several others that can make a real run at the tournament title this week.

Here are three questions and answers entering the tournament:

1. If not the Ducks, then who?

No. 5 seed Arizona (20-11) and No. 6 Colorado (21-10) dropped out of the top four with late-season losses, meaning both need to win four games in four days to capture the tournament. But both also are ranked in the top 32 by Kenpom, higher than any Pac-12 team besides Oregon.

No. 2 UCLA (19-12) and No. 3 Arizona State (20-11) are next in line to win the tournament. The Bruins have been especially hot, winning seven of their past eight games. The Sun Devils have gone the other way, losing three consecutive games before ending the regular season with a victory.

Also keep an eye out for No. 4 Southern California (22-9) and No. 7 Stanford (20-11).

2. Who are the players to watch?

Oregon guard Payton Pritchard was named Pac-12 Player of the Year after leading the conference with 20.5 points and 5.6 assists per game to go with 4.3 rebounds. Pritchard also is a finalist for four major national player of the year awards.

Also keep an eye on Stanford forward Oscar da Silva, Arizona State guard Remy Martin, Arizona forward Zeke Nnaji, USC forward Onyeka Okongwu, UCLA guard Chris Smith, Washington forward Isaiah Stewart and Colorado guard McKinley Wright IV.

Several players have local ties, most notably Oregon forward Shakur Juiston (UNLV), Colorado forward Tyler Bey (Las Vegas High), Arizona center Chase Jeter (Bishop Gorman) and Washington guard Jamal Bey (Gorman).

3. Will the show go on?

The Ivy League announced Tuesday it was canceling its men’s and women’s tournaments, and similar steps have been taken from the high school to the professional levels in response to the spread of the coronavirus.

As of now, the Pac-12 tournament will proceed as scheduled. A conference spokesman referred to a statement the conference put out March 5 that it would “continue to monitor the situation and take the steps necessary to protect the health of participants and attendees.”

So though there aren’t plans to cancel the tournament or play in an empty T-Mobile, the situation could change.

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.