Oregon vs Creighton Expert Picks, Predictions & Player Props (March 23)

• The #3 Creighton Bluejays take on the #11 Oregon Ducks on Saturday night in Pittsburgh
• Oregon coach Dana Altman was the Creighton boss from 1994 to 2010
• See the Oregon vs Creighton predictions, expert picks, and player props on March 23

Dana Altman led his #11 Oregon Ducks to a win over #6 South Carolina on Thursday night, setting up a second-round NCAA Tournament game with his former team, the #3 Creighton Bluejays, in Pittsburgh, PA, on Saturday night (9:40 pm ET).

Creighton, which returns the top-three scorers from a team that reached the Elite Eight last year, is a 4.5-point favorite at PPG Paints Arena.

Oregon vs Creighton Odds

The moneyline odds favor Creighton at -208, which gives the Bluejays a 67.53% implied win probability. The Ducks are listed at +170 to advance (37.04% implied probability).

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Creighton enters the second round as the third-favorite to win the Midwest Region in the Final Four odds (+500). Oregon has the second-longest odds of the eight remaining teams (+2200), only ahead of #8 Utah State (+4200), which takes on #1 Purdue (+160) on Sunday.

Creighton Puts on Offensive Clinic Against Akron

The Bluejays absorbed some punches from #14 Akron in the early going of their first-round matchup and answered back with interest. Led by 23 points from seven-foot center Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton shot 52.8% from the floor and 58.8% from three (10-of-17) en route to a 77-60 victory over the Zips.

The much-bigger Bluejays dominated the glass (38 to 26) led by 13 boards from future NBA draft pick Baylor Scheierman, who also had 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting.

Point guard Trey Alexander – the final member of Creighton’s “big three” – added 19 points and five rebounds.

As usual, all five Creighton starters logged heavy minutes. Alexander, Kalkbrenner, and Scheierman all played 38-plus minutes, and only six Bluejays played more than five.

A necessity for a team that’s as top-heavy as Creighton, the Bluejays commit the fewest fouls in the nation. Opponents are only generating 12% of their points from the stripe, the fewest of all 362 DI teams.

Oregon Leaves No Doubt Against Gamecocks

Coming off a Pac-12 Tournament title, which included wins over top-seed Arizona in the semis (67-59) and three-seed Colorado in the final (75-68), Oregon stayed scorching hot with a dominant 87-73 win over South Carolina in the first round.

South Carolina transfer Jermaine Couisnard dropped a career-best 40 points in the win over his former team, going 14-of-22 from the field. Senior center N’Faly Dante, the Pac-12 Tournament MVP, stuffed the stat sheet with 23 points, six rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and two steals.

Oregon moved up three spots at KenPom (55th to 52nd) after the lopsided win and the Ducks offense is now 42nd in efficiency. But the 7-of-16 performance from three is not something that’s likely to repeat. Oregon is shooting just 33.8% from beyond the arc this season, and only takes 36.6% of its field-goal attempts from beyond the arc (202nd-most).

ORE vs CRE Player Props

Oregon vs Creighton Prediction

My expert bracket has Creighton winning the national championship, and I feel decent about that pick after the Akron game. This team has a starting five that’s as good as any in the country – including UConn, as evidenced by their 85-66 rout of the Huskies on Feb. 20. But this is a sizable spread against a team as hot and athletic as the Ducks.

While Oregon is riding a wave of momentum, the Bluejays rate higher in almost every statistical category. They sit 31 spots higher on offense, 44 on defense, and 41 in overall efficiency. As long as Creighton’s starters don’t get into foul trouble – which almost never happens – I like Creighton to cover, especially with the spread moving in the Ducks’ favor. The line opened at Creighton -5.5 and, despite KenPom projecting a six-point win (77-71), it’s moved a full point towards Oregon.

Oregon vs Creighton picks:

• Creighton -4.5 (-110)
• Kalkbrenner over 7.5 rebounds (+105)