Oregon's Dana Altman on the key to beating Arizona: 'Rebounding is going to be very important'

Expect a physical game when Oregon and Arizona meet on Sunday night in the NCAA Tournament

Oregon Ducks head coach Dana Altman. / Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

As Arizona Wildcats coach Tommy Lloyd said earlier this week, you can throw out the seeds once the NCAA Tournament bracket is set.

That's especially the case for Sunday night's round of 32 March Madness clash between former Pac-12 foes Arizona and Oregon. These teams know each other well, and college basketball fans can expect a street fight.

• LIVE UPDATES: ARIZONA VS. OREGON

Both teams play a physical style, and both badly outrebounded their first-round opponents. And Oregon coach Dana Altman thinks that could be the difference in this game.

"I think the rebounding is going to be very important," Altman said in his Saturday press conference. "They're a plus seven on the season and really got Akron on the boards (Friday) night. But their size, their athleticism, we're just going to have to compete."

"It really hurt us against Michigan State in the (Big Ten) tournament. So we know they're going to go. We have to put a body on 'em, we're going to have to be physical, and we're going to have to do a good job, all five guys staying in the fight and trying to get the ball."

Here are the highlights of what Altman said ahead of Sunday night's March Madness showdown between Oregon and Arizona:

Altman on if it's strange facing Arizona in the NCAA Tournament

"A little bit. I looked it up. In the last 14 years, we played 27 times. So it was always a game that we looked forward to. A lot of years we were battling for position in the league for the NCAA Tournament and so forth. Sean (Miller) did a good job and now Tom's doing a good job. It was always a big game. Yeah, it is unusual, especially given the last 14 years that we've been associated with the program."

"But we are looking forward to the challenge again. Their system is their system. Their transition is always good, they push the ball, make or miss. We know we've got to get back, try to get our defense put together. Mentioned the rebounding. And then Caleb Love, when he gets it going, he's a handful. Tough opponent for us. We're going to have to play awfully, awfully well to give ourselves an opportunity."

Altman on dealing with Tobe Awaka and Trey Townsend

"They're big bodies. (Oumar) Ballo was a big body also. They have had big guys. So we didn't any get bigger. With the exception of a few games, I don't think it bothered us that much."

"No, those guys are physical down there. They've got good size. As I mentioned, they're a plus seven on the boards, so they're really getting after boards. Their guards are bigger than ours, which is of concern. But we're just going to have to battle it. We're going to have to be physical, we're going to have to get on the boards, we're going to have to play awfully well."

Altman on if being familiar with Arizona helps

"It helps a little bit, just, you know, we know their guards. KJ Lewis was back and Caleb Love. So we have some familiarity there with their personnel and the system is a lot."

"But they have the same advantage. We haven't changed a lot. We got quite a few new faces because a few of our guys were out. But KJ's back and Jackson, and Bam. Those three guys played a lot for us last year. The rest of the guys were out with injuries. So I think both teams have a little bit of an advantage with the one-day prep of getting ready."

Altman on Oregon and Arizona now playing 'national' schedules

"That's an interesting question. We looked at those programs when we came in 15 years ago and said we know we got to compete with Arizona and we know we got to compete with UCLA. So those were kind of the programs we looked at. Can we recruit at that level? Those are the programs we've got to beat."

"But I think it has become much more national with Washington and USC, UCLA and us heading East so much. It really hasn't changed the way everybody says, 'Well, it's going to change the way you play.' It really hasn't. Maybe more illegal picks than we had in the Pac-12, more pushing, but other than that, I don't think it's changed too much."

"But the whole game for a Stanford, Cal, they're going cross country to play, so it's kind of changed for all of us, Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, Colorado going to Central Florida to play. So I think it has changed for all of us and a lot more travel and a lot of different opponents, a lot of new scouts. So it was a unique year, I think, for all the programs."

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