No. 11 Oregon stays hot and takes out South Carolina in another NCAA Tournament upset
Jermaine Couisnard set a school record with 40 points, N'Faly Dante added 23 and No. 11 Oregon upset No. 6 South Carolina 87-73 in the first round of the Midwest Region .
The Pac-12 tournament champions scored the second significant upset of the opening day of the men’s NCAA men's tournament, joining No. 11 Duquesne’s 71-67 win against No. 6 Brigham Young.
Couisnard bettered Oregon's previous scoring high in an NCAA Tournament game and eclipsed his career best of 39 points against Oregon State in late February. Dante, a senior center and first-team all-conference pick, shot 7 of 9 from the field with six rebounds and two blocks.
Oregon led 34-29 at halftime after South Carolina guard Ta'Lon Cooper connected from 3-point range with five seconds left. But any momentum the Gamecocks might've taken into the locker room was quickly erased by the Ducks, who pushed ahead by as many as 17 points in the second half, at 54-37.
Cooper finished with 15 points and made 3 of 5 attempts from deep. Joining Cooper in double figures was guard Michael Johnson (24 points) and forward B.J. Mack (13).
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Off the tournament bubble heading into the conference tournament, the Ducks punched their ticket into the bracket with wins against UCLA, Arizona and Colorado. They'll next face Creighton, where coach Dana Altman spent 16 seasons before leaving for Oregon in 2010.
The loss is a disappointing end to what had been a banner season for the Gamecocks, who reached the tournament for the first time since reaching the Final Four in 2017 and just the second time since 2004. South Carolina went 11-21 overall and 4-14 in the SEC last year, the program's first under former Chattanooga coach Lamont Paris, but finished 26-8 this season and tied for second place in the conference. The 15-win bump is the largest year-to-year improvement in program history.