SAN JOSE, Calif. — No. 12 getting a win over a fifth-seeded team in the NCAA basketball tournament doesn’t sound like it would happen that often. But of all the upsets one could pick, the stats point to this specific matchup. Over the years, there is a one-in-three chance a 12 beats a five, and the Oregon Ducks did their part to hold true to the numbers, outplaying the Oklahoma State Cowboys for a full 40 minutes to pull off a 68-55 victory on Thursday afternoon.

“You have to play whoever they tell you to play,” Oklahoma State head coach Travis Ford said. “I knew right away after watching them, this was not your typical 12 seed.”

The round two victory propels the Ducks to a Saturday showdown with the Saint Louis Billikens, who took care of New Mexico State in a 20-point smackdown Thursday morning.

Coming into the game, Big 12 Player of the Year and Oklahoma State’s heart and soul freshman Marcus Smart figured to be a menace against the Ducks. If the Cowboys planned on relying on Smart, Oregon looked anything but silly, playing savvy basketball to outlast a stifled Oklahoma State squad.

If Oregon was going to pull off the upset, rebounding and the play of Dominic Artis (especially against Smart) looked to be the keys to victory. The Ducks turned those keys to open up a double-digit halftime lead and continued an aggressive defensive strategy that, when coupled with bad shooting from Smart, equated in a 13-point margin of victory.

“We went into the game, we wanted to be aggressive on the boards,” Oregon head coach Dana Altman said. “We wanted to be aggressive defensively, and we wanted to be aggressive offensively.”

Artis played his best game since returning from his lengthy injury. He played only 17 minutes but looked comfortable in his shot, scoring 13 points. On defense he was an image of persistence, with four steals, only earning one foul despite his pesky defense.

“I made some shots that I usually hit, so that got me going,” Artis said. “And then focusing on defense really helped me.”

“He (Artis) bounced back a little bit,” Altman said.

The Ducks were miles ahead of Oklahoma State in the rebounding struggle, nabbing 45 in comparison to the Cowboys’ 29. The Ducks were 14 against four on the offensive glass, which equated in 12 second-chance points (almost the entire point differential for the game).

Arsalan Kazemi put in another double-double with a heavy emphasis on rebounding, grabbing 17 boards to go along with 11. He had 10 points and nine rebounds by halftime.

Damyean Dotson led all scorers with 17, 11 of which were a part of his fourth consecutive hot first half, a spark for Oregon in the four consecutive wins. Carlos Emory also added 12, making him a part of the quartet of double-digit Duck scorers in the game.

Smart scored just one below his average with 14, but six of his points came in garbage time when the Duck defense had relented a bit. He shot 5-of-13 and a mediocre 4-from-8 at the free throw line.

***

Having won three in a row to claim the Pac-12 conference tournament title, the Ducks came into the NCAA Tournament on an emotional high, which might have been further fueld by the low seed the selection committee assigned Oregon.

On the game’s first play, Artis stole a pass and dished ahead to Dotson for an easy bucket. Three threes, including two from an on-fire Dotson, gave Oregon a quick three-point advantage after five minutes of play.

UO furthered its lead with an 8-0 run that included four points from Kazemi, one off a steal and the second on a snazzy, two-hand jam off a Dotson miss.

By halftime Oregon had earned an 11-point lead, kindled by the aggressive presence on the loose balls, which often turned into baskets right at the hoop.

In the second half, UO stretched the advantage up to 16 early on, but the Cowboys hung around, once slicing the deficit to 11. No matter for Oregon, as the Ducks drilled three three-pointers in a seven-minute stretch.

To close the game out, the Ducks scored all nine of their final points from the free throw stripe.

Oregon will practice tomorrow before playing Saint Louis in San Jose on Saturday.