Jermaine Couisnard said on Wednesday the matchup with his old school, South Carolina, was going to be personal. He proved just how personal it was by setting a career-high 40 points to lead the Ducks past the Gamecocks 87-73.
Oregon basketball knew there was still work to be done despite winning the last Pac-12 Tournament title and made sure to preserve Dana Altman’s undefeated record in the opening round of March Madness. Altman has kept his message the same for the entire season, and the consistency allows his group to be ready for anything.
“It’s been the same message since day one,” said Couisnard. “Just play together, make plays for your teammates and just go out there and swing away for us and just defend and rebound and we’ll have a good chance for us to win.”
The chances of winning certainly increase when you have Couisnard putting up 40 points. While he didn’t know he would post as many points as he did, he knew pretty early on that he was going to have a strong performance.
“I think when I pulled up the dribble three because I know I had it coming, but if it wasn’t for these guys I wouldn’t have had what I had tonight,” said Couisnard. “So I appreciate those guys.”
“Well he [Couisnard] was really feeling it,” said Altman. “As he mentioned, he had a couple threes that were tough, and I think that really got him going… Those are games every player dreams of, you know, and getting it going in the NCAA Tournament is a really good feeling.”
In addition to playing against his old team, there was another element that made this game special. He was playing in front of several family members and while not everyone can say they’ve played in a game at the NCAA Tournament, people can relate to the importance of family. It means a lot to have their support in one of the biggest moments of your life, especially when some of them don’t get to see if often.
“This is one of my grandmother’s first games,” said Couisnard. “So I was happy to see her be able to drive out here and play in front of her and be able to watch me play.”
While the game against South Carolina was personal for Couisnard, the next one is going to feel the same way for Altman. Prior to coaching for Oregon, he was the coach at Creighton for 16 years and now gets a chance to coach against his former team for just the fourth time in his career and the first time in the NCAA Tournament.
“I got great feelings about Creighton,” Altman said. “As I said [Wednesday], you can leave a place but that doesn’t mean you still don’t love the place… And when I’m done, I’m going to feel the same way about Oregon as I do Creighton.”
Oregon and Creighton will face off on Saturday at 7:10 p.m. on TBS/TruTV for a shot to advance to the Sweet 16.Â