By Wendell Barnhouse
Big12Sports.com Correspondent
Oklahoma State and Oregon faced off in the NCAA Tournament two years ago and both schools find themselves matched again in this year’s bracket.
"I think both teams do have a few things very similar," Cowboys coach Travis Ford said. "The teams are different, but there's familiarity. When the names popped up there, you know, `Oregon!' And I'm sure they said, `Oh, Oklahoma State again.' Just familiar."
The ninth-seeded Cowboys will take on the eighth-seeded Ducks, an at-large team out of the Pac-12 Conference, in a second-round game in the West Regional Friday.
Oklahoma State was also an at-large selection even though it lost six of its last seven games. Oregon, meanwhile, overcame a slow start when it lost three of its first five games.
"We haven't played or probably succeeded as well as we'd have liked lately," Ford said, "but this is a brand new opportunity for our team to play."
When the teams met in 2013, Oklahoma State was a No. 5 seed and the Ducks pulled the upset as the No. 12 seed.
"This is an eight-nine game,"Oklahoma State’s Le’Bryan Nash said. "They think we're equal, so it's anybody's game."
Nash is the Cowboys’ leading scorer and his playing in his third NCAA Tournament.
Oklahoma State’s Jeff Newberry will be guarding Oregon’s Joe Young, the Pac-12 player of the year.
“I'm always looking forward to the challenge,” Newberry said. “I like guarding the best player. He's just crafty and gets to basket. He can change a game at any time from what I've seen.”
The Cowboys will be trying to avoid a one-and-done; their last NCAA Tournament victory came in 2009.
“We’re going to do everything we can – everything we possibly can,” Ford said. “If I could wave a magic wand, we’d be in the Final Four. That’s not the way it works. Now, with the normal fan it is.
“But every year is different. One year doesn’t correspond to the next year. Whether it was our first year, second time, third time, this is our fifth time, I want to make it to the second round.”
West Regional
5:50 p.m. Friday, Omaha, Neb.
No. 8 Oregon (25-9) vs. No. 9 Oklahoma State (18-13)
Cowboys update: Oklahoma State is 22nd nationally in blocked shots with 5.0 per game. At 32 points a game, LeBryan Nash and Phil Forte are eighth nationally in terms of scoring duos. Forte, a junior guard, has been struggling. He’s averaging just 7.8 points over the last five games and over the last seven he’s shooting 28.5 percent from the floor. Nash has led the team in scoring in nine of the last 10 games. He had 27 in his last outing. Oklahoma State's starting five includes three seniors and two juniors who have combined to start 359 games at the Division I level.
Ducks update: The Ducks are led by Pac-12 player of the year Joseph Young, a 6-2 senior guard who averages 20.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. Young transferred from the University of Houston, where he played for coach James Dickey, who is now an assistant on Oklahoma State’s staff. Oregon is coached by former Kansas State and Creighton coach Dana Altman. He is one of seven active coaches with 18 consecutive winning seasons. Oregon set a school record with its third consecutive NCAA Tournament bid. The Ducks were picked to finish eighth in the Pac-12 but finished tied for second.
What’s next: Winner plays on Sunday against the winner of Wisconsin and Coastal Carolina.