#5 Oregon Ducks (20-11, 11-6 Pac-12) face #12 Belmont Bruins (22-7, 16-2 Ohio Valley) in first round NCAA action:

When: 3/19/22, 2:30 pm

Where: Knoxville, Tenn

Watch: ESPN2

The Ducks will be playing in the Wichita region of this year’s tournament, and their first stop is in Tennessee to face the Belmont Bruins in what will - for all practical purposes - be a home game for Belmont.

The Bruins are 1-6 in NCAA tournament play, but are coming off a 12-game win streak. Their resume against P5 opponents is short, however, and is a contributor to their NET rating of 50. They will be lead by sophomore guard Destinee Wells, who is their scoring leader and averages 16.6 PPG. Also leading the Bruins is sophomore forward Madison Bartley, who comes in this game scoring over 11 PPG and is Belmont’s rebound leader. Belmont can shoot the deep ball and have several players shooting 39% or better.

The Ducks come off a decent rest period, after having a packed slate late February and heading into the Pac-12 tournament. Oregon has shown that they can play well against top teams, sporting a NET rating of 12, and they’ll have an overwhelming size advantage today, given that at 6-3, Bartley is Belmont’s tallest player.

The Bruins will have to light up the shots beyond the arc, because the Ducks will own the inside game. Regardless, look for Oregon to advance with relative ease into the second round of their March Madness run.