The UC Irvine Anteaters may be a team that is surprising some people right now, but fans on the West Coast are well aware of their penchant for muscle and defense. On Sunday night they encounter an opponent that has relied on some of those things themselves when they meet up with the Oregon Ducks in an NCAA Tournament game in which the winner will advance to the Sweet Sixteen. It will tip off at 9:40 PM ET at the SAP Center in San Jose, and while CBS is televising it live, BetAnySports customers can get their fill of real-time wagering through the facilities of Live Betting Ultra.

The guys from Irvine had the benefit of not having to face Dean Wade in their first-round game against Kansas State, and they were able to post a 70-64 victory. Max Hazzard and Evan Leonard both had 19 points for the Anteaters, who have won 31 games on the season. It's a little early in the tournament for them to be doing this, but they already have adopted their own "Sister jean" story, like Loyola-Chicago last season, although their "mascot" is actually an assistant coach – Blaine Turner, who had been the head man at both Montana and Old Dominion.

For this to be a feel-good story, they are going to have to stop and Oregon freight train that has won and covered nine straight contests. And the Ducks were in unbelievable form last time out, holding Wisconsin to 20% shooting from beyond the arc, while shooting 55% overall themselves in a 72-54 victory. This team was not even an at-large possibility coming down the stretch, but they forced their way into the Big Dance in what was a rather weak season for the Pac-12.

In the NCAA Tournament betting odds posted on this game by the folks at BetAnySports, Oregon is the favorite:

Oregon Ducks           -5
UC Irvine Anteaters +5

Over 126.5 points   -110
Under 126.5 points -110

Oregon is the #12 seed, while Irvine is 13th in this South regional, so there will be something of an upset as a low seed will have advanced to the Sweet Sixteen. Both of these clubs are obviously relying upon their ability to snuff out the opposition. And both of them are pretty good at changing up the look of their defenses. What you're going to see from Russell Turner, the head coach at UC Irvine, is mostly a man-to-man set up, what they will also at times switch up with some zone, with even the "box and one" having been seen against K-State. In that particular alignment it's going to be hard to find one guy to concentrate on, since Oregon has much of the offensive responsibilities stretched between point guard Payton Pritchard and two 6-9 forwards, senior Paul White and freshman Louis King, a highly touted recruit who has come into his own as the season has progressed.

Oregon will use the three-pointer more than Irvine; that might turn out to be a place where they can make some headway. However, the Ducks are hardly automatic from out there (34.6%). And the Anteaters, statistically speaking, are the best defense inside the arc in the country, allowing opponents to shoot just 40.7%. What is so tough about them is that they're always going to have a stopper in the middle. Jonathan Galloway, the 6-10 center, is the three-time Big West defensive player of the year, and his backup, 6-9 Elston Jones, was voted the conference's sixth man of the year. Galloway does not score a lot of points (6.9 per game), but is obviously very efficient, because he happens to have the highest Offensive Rating (126.7) on either starting lineup.

Irvine may have four guards on the floor at any given time, but they will attack the hoop. And Hazzard and Leonard shoot very well from the outside (over 40% from three-point range combined). This is where Oregon's perimeter defense comes into play, as they are very stiff against triples (allowing 29.1%). And they would be even more dominant on the inside had Bol Bol, the wondrous 7-2 center and son of Manute Bol, not gotten injured. As it stands, he decided just to sit out the rest of the season get ready for the NBA Draft.

Both of these teams like to stay relatively fresh, especially Irvine, which allocates 41.7% of its minutes to the bench, and that includes 6-9 Collin Welp, son of former NBA player Christian Welp. There's a lot of balance with the Anteaters, who have eight players averaging at least six points per game. But they don't really have anyone who can take over a game on offense. If you look at the "pace" figures, both of these teams have every intention of being deliberate with the basketball, and on defense, they are only too happy to let the opponent take up a lot of the shot clock. For us, we feel most comfortable going with the UNDER in this Round of 32 matchup.

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