Jackson Shelstad scored 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting to help fifth-seeded Oregon trounce 12th-seeded Liberty 81-52 on Friday night in East Region first-round play of the NCAA Tournament at Seattle.
Nate Bittle contributed 14 points and 10 rebounds and Keeshawn Barthelemy added 10 points for the Ducks (25-9), who never trailed while winning for the ninth time in the past 10 games.
Oregon will play fourth-seeded Arizona on Sunday for a spot in the Sweet 16. The Ducks and Wildcats were part of the same conference until both teams exited the Pac-12 before the 2024 football season.
Zach Cleveland had 10 points, six rebounds and six assists for Liberty (28-7), which lost for just the second time in the past 13 games.
Oregon has won at least one game in each of its last nine NCAA Tournament appearances.
The Ducks shot 54.4 percent from the field, including 10 of 21 from 3-point range. TJ Bamba had four of Oregon’s 11 steals.
Liberty made 32.8 percent of its shots and connected on a dismal 8 of 37 from behind the arc.
Shelstad scored 15 first-half points to help Oregon hold a 44-20 lead at the break. He tallied eight points in a game-opening 18-2 burst as the Ducks immediately took control.
“When you hit your first couple shots, obviously it gives you confidence. And my teammates did a really good job by getting me looks,” Shelstad said.
Shelstad buried a jumper midway through the half to make it 27-8.
“I thought the fellas came out with early energy. The early threes kind of got us going, but our defensive activity was really, really good. … (Liberty) is a team — you don’t win 28 games by accident. They can really shoot it. But our activity got them out of their rhythm.”
Liberty moved within 13 before Bittle scored seven straight points to give the Ducks a 34-14 lead with 5:17 left in the half.
“They did a terrific job taking away some of the things we do well. They were dominant tonight,” Liberty coach Ritchie McKay said.
Shelstad had a personal 5-0 run to end the half, hitting a jumper with 41 seconds remaining and drilling a trey with five seconds left to make it a 24-point margin.
Brandon Angel’s basket made it 50-24 with 17:39 left in the game.
The Flames scored seven of the next nine points with Taelon Peter’s 3-pointer cutting the deficit to 21 with 14:42 left.
Kwame Evans Jr. made a hook shot to put the lead over 30 for the first time at 62-31 with 9:57 to play.
Big man Bittle drained a trey to get the lead back to 30 with 5:02 remaining. Oregon led by as many as 34 while finishing its game-long assault.
–Field Level Media
