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SPOKANE, Wash. — Other than the uniforms — neon yellow anyone? — Oregon is mostly unknown on the East Coast.
Acknowledging that the Ducks are anonymous to anyone but an insomniac, Saint Joseph's head coach Phil Martelli said he didn't even know they were ranked fifth in the country.
That is until he started focusing on the Hawks' second-round opponent in the NCAA Tournament. Eighth-seeded St. Joe's (28-7) faces top-seeded Oregon (29-6) Sunday at 9:40 p.m. The winner advances to the Sweet 16 in Anaheim, California, on Thursday to play fourth-seeded Duke.
“They're fabulous,” Martelli said of Oregon. “They're as good — up close I know Villanova and they could end up in Houston — and I know Oregon could end up in Houston [for the Final Four].
“The fans in Philadelphia, or the East Coast, they have no idea.”
Martelli and his players like the idea the teams are similar.
“I personally like the matchups,” senior guard Aaron Brown said. “Across the board, they're similar to us in style and height and weight, so I think it's going to be a very, very good game.”
“We know they're a very versatile team,” Oregon forward Dwayne Benjamin said. “They got a lot of guys who can do a lot of different things, kind of like us.”
Teammate Elgin Cook agreed.
“I think they can mix it up pretty well,” he said. “They got a lot of versatile guys and they play extremely hard.”
The Ducks average 79.2 points a game, St. Joe's puts up 77.6 and both teams make seven threes a game.
“I think it's going to be a really good game, very fast and uptempo type of game,” Saint Joseph's Atlantic 10 Player of the Year DeAndre' Bembry said, “because even their centers dribble the ball and shoot threes.”
Oregon's tallest starter is Chris Boucher at 6-foot-10, but he weighs just 190 pounds. But like the Hawks, all of the Ducks can play multiple positions.
“I think they're faster than we are,” Martelli said. “We would like the game to be [uptempo], maybe not to 80 like they want. I don't think either team is a knock-them-out, three-point shooting team, so this is going to be about straight line drives.
“They have the added advantage or component to their game where the lobs, you can't guard the ball when it's that high in the air.”
But the Hawks aren't Holy Cross, which took a 91-52 thumping from the Ducks in Friday's first-round game.
“It's definitely another test for us,” said Bembry, who agreed with Brown it was fun to play an unknown opponent. “We don't want to go home. On film they look great. They're a good team off of penetration, all the guys can shoot well, so I'm just looking forward to getting it going.”
And about those uniforms?
“They do have some funky uniforms,” Brown said. “I will give them that. But I don't think that's going to distract us in any way.”
Heartfelt message
After the Hawks’ win late Friday, Martelli admitted it was a bittersweet day because it started with bad news. His good friend and former assistant Monte Ross was fired at Delaware and his son, Phil Jr., is a Blue Hens' assistant.
Martelli was asked if he heard from his son after the victory and he took a moment to gather himself before quietly answering: “He told me that on a bad day, we helped. Thank you for asking.”
Cheers: Where everybody knows your name
You might say the NCAA Tournament has become Bembry's own personal Cheers.
Now everybody knows his name.
During the first half of Saint Joseph's 78-76 win over Cincinnati late Friday night, the 6-foot-6 junior forward from Charlotte, North Carolina, did everything. He had an explosive drive from the left wing for a thundering dunk, a soft jumper and three three-pointers, the last one converted into a four-point play. And on defense, he played the lead role in holding Cincinnati's leading scorer, Troy Caupain, to two missed shots until taking a seat in the closing seconds.
CBS announcer Doug Gottlieb called Bembry the best player in the tournament nobody knew.
There may be something to that.
When the Hawks were seeded into Spokane, Martelli called Gonzaga coach Mark Few to inquire about practice facilities. No doubt the coaches, who have a history dating back about 15 years, exchanged compliments for making the tournament — no small accomplishment for the Hawks, who were 13-18 last year, including a humbling 94-52 loss at Gonzaga in the third game.
According to various stories, Few's off-the-cuff remarks included a comment to the effect, “You must have a whole new team except for that kid with the Afro.”
After Bembry's 23 points, six rebounds, five assists, three steals and two steals against Cincinnati, a lot of questions directed to Martelli were related to Bembry's performance.
“He's been zeroed in,” Martelli said. “The look in his eye since last Saturday night has been, not that he would say it this way, but everybody in the country now knows his name. Even Mark Few will now say, 'That kid with the Afro? You mean Bembry?' He will say Bembry.”