Oregon's Dana Altman to play former team Creighton in NCAA Tournament second round game

Wednesday afternoon, Creighton men’s basketball coach Greg McDermott said to expect a “sea of blue” cheering for Oregon and coach Dana Altman on Thursday inside PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.

That probably won’t be the case on Saturday.

The natural drama of the NCAA Tournament will get turned up a notch when the No. 11 Ducks (24-11) attempt to pull off an upset of the No. 3 Bluejays (24-9) in a second-round game of the Midwest Region in Pittsburgh.

Creighton is a 5.5-point favorite in the game in March Madness odds provided by BetMGM Sportsbook.

Oregon's Altman to face former team Creighton in NCAA Tournament

Altman will be facing the team he coached for 16 years before leaving for Oregon in 2010.

“I got great feelings about Creighton,” Altman said Thursday after the Ducks took out No. 6 South Carolina 87-73. “You can leave a place but that doesn't mean you still don't love the place. And I've had 14 great years at Oregon, and I love this place. And when I'm done, I'll feel the same way about Oregon as I do about Creighton.”

McDermott, who replaced Altman, said there is still much love at Creighton for Altman as well, hence why he assumed the Bluejays' fans who made the trip to Pittsburgh would be rooting for the former coach in Oregon’s first round game.

“Dana is still beloved in Omaha and he always will be,” McDermott said. “He really did the heavy lifting with this program in the 16 years he was there, taking over a program that there was 1,500 people coming to the games. And then moving into an arena with 17,000 people and figuring out a way to get people there to watch you. And, you know, it was Dana's work and the way he grew the program in the Missouri Valley Conference that allowed us to kind of take that torch and run with it.”

At Creighton, Altman went 327-176 from 1994-2010 with seven NCAA Tournament appearances. At Oregon he is 345–151. He is the all-time wins leader at both schools.

McDermott has gone 323-159 and with Thursday’s 77-60 first-round against Akron, has advanced to the second round for the fourth straight season.

“Greg's done a tremendous job,” Altman said. “They got a tremendous program. I'm so happy for him. You know, I follow them. My family's all back in Nebraska. Oregon is one, but I think Creighton is 1A. There's not much separation. I still love the school.”

The Ducks improved to 8-0 under Altman in first-round NCAA Tournament games on Thursday. He will now attempt to get his team into the Sweet 16 for the sixth time in his 14-year Oregon career.

Oregon guard Jermaine Couisnard, who had 40 points — a career-high and program record for an NCAA Tournament game — against the Gamecocks, acknowledged this is a meaningful game for his coach, but he didn’t expect anything to be different as they prepare for the Bluejays.

“Since day one he hasn't changed,” Couisnard said. “It’s been the same message for us since day one. Just play together, make plays for your teammates and just go out there and swing away and just defend and rebound and we'll have a good chance for us to win.”

Ducks face formidable March Madness foe in Bluejays

Creighton is led by 6-7 senior guard Baylor Scheierman, who averages 18.3 points and 9.1 rebounds and has made 102 3-pointers this season.

Ryan Kalkbrenner averaged 17.3 points, and 7.4 rebounds and has 100 blocks this season. The 7-foot-1, 270-pound senior center is a three-time Big East defensive player of the year.

The matchup between Kalkbrenner and Oregon’s N’Faly Dante could be worth the price of admission.

Dante had 23 points, six rebounds and two blocks against South Carolina.

“We're going to have to bring our A game, just like we did against Arizona or Colorado or any of the other teams that we beat in conference tournament,” Altman said. “We're going to have to play really well, and we had two guys who played tremendous to get win this game over South Carolina, and we're going to have to have more guys step it up Saturday to give ourselves a chance.”

Oregon Ducks (24-11) vs. Creighton Bluejays (24-9)

NCAA Tournament, second round

Time/date: 6:40 p.m., Saturday

Site: PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

TV: TBS/truTV. Radio: KUJZ-FM (95.3).

Follow Chris Hansen on X @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com. For more sports coverage, visit registerguard.com.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: How to watch Oregon vs. Creighton basketball in NCAA Tournament