SEATTLE -- Former Pac-12 rivals Arizona and Oregon will reunite Sunday in the NCAA Tournament's second round after the fifth-seeded Ducks blew out Liberty 81-52 in a first-round game Friday at Climate Pledge Arena.
The UA-UO game is scheduled to tipoff at 6:40 p.m. Sunday and be carried on TBS.
The Ducks (25-9) met Arizona (23-12) three times last season in their final Pac-12 go-round together, with Arizona winning twice during the regular season and the Ducks beating the Wildcats in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals.
In the first matchup last season, UA guard Caleb Love set the single- scoring record at Oregon's Matthew Knight Arena with 36 points to lead the Wildcats to an 87-78 win over the Ducks. Guard Keeshawn Barthelemy also suffered a season-ending ankle injury in that game.
"I'm excited for obvious reasons that I will not mention," Barthelemy said. "Arizona has been a big Pac-12 foe for a couple of years and I'm excited to compete. They play hard, they play tough and we'll be ready come Sunday."
Much like the Wildcats did earlier Friday in a 93-65 win over Akron, Oregon jumped on Liberty early, taking an 18-2 run after less than six minutes, and never trailed.
Point guard Jackson Shelstad had 17 points to lead Oregon in scoring, while center Nate Bittle had 14 points and 10 rebounds. The Ducks shot 54.4% while holding Liberty to 32.8%,shooting, including just 21.6% (8 for 37) from 3-point territory.
It was Oregon's ninth victory in its past 10 games, with the Ducks losing only to Michigan State in the Big Ten Tournament during that stretch
"We went on the streak because we were playing defense, getting after people defensively, contesting shots, stuff like that," Bittle said. "The key to winning games is rebounding the ball and playing defense. ... when we're active on the defense, it's something that's helped us win a lot of games this year."
A long-ago Arizona recruiting target who has already faced the Wildcats six times at Oregon, Bittle said he was looking forward to the chance to play UA one more time.
"It's exciting to be able to match up with them," Bittle said. "We've all been out in different conferences but ultimately we're locked in and we're gonna try too get that job done on Sunday."
While Arizona could have looked ahead to a possible Pac-12 reunion with Oregon, which tipped off against Liberty before they left Climate Pledge Arena, but Lloyd said the team's focus had been Akron all week long.
"And we kind of have some behind-the-scene things we talk about to keep us centered, and understand that we don't need to get ahead of ourselves," Lloyd said. "In games like this, it's really important to control your emotions. You can't get desperate.
"You just have to dial back your emotions again and then kind of stick to the plan, and I thought our guys were sensational at that tonight. I was really proud of them."
The winner of Sunday's Arizona-Oregon game will advance to an Sweet 16 game on Thursday in the East Regional in Newark, N.J., against the winner of a Duke-Baylor game on Sunday in Raleigh, N.C.
Oregon’s head coach Dana Altman tries to get the Ducks in their offensive set during a possession against Liberty during the second half of their first-round game of the NCAA Tournament in Seattle on March 21, 2025.
