Oregon head coach Kelly Graves tracked down longtime ESPN bracketologist Charlie Creme by phone on Sunday and posed a simple question: Should the Ducks put together a celebration seeding party? Or do something private?

Creme’s answer was unequivocal.

“He told me, in his opinion, we could do a big party,” Graves said during a radio appearance on Oregon IMG’s Duck Insider on Tuesday. “I feel pretty good. We have 20 wins, 10 of which were against teams in the toughest conference in the country. We have four top-25 wins.”

The Ducks’ NCAA RPI stands at No. 35 nationally, and Creme’s Tuesday projection has the Ducks as a No. 8 seed facing No. 9 LSU in Waco, Texas, in the first round.

Oregon (20-13) advanced to the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament last weekend, cementing their spot in March Madness for the first time since 2005. The Ducks took down Arizona, then knocked off No. 11 Washington before falling to No. 10 Stanford.

“The Washington win, in a word, was incredible,” Graves said. “Just the whole circumstance around it.”

The Ducks played before a record-sized crowd at KeyArena on Friday night. In reflecting on the game, Graves said his team’s approach against Washington was spot-on.

“Our kids just really played their hearts out,” Graves said. “I give my staff a lot of credit. … They put together a great game plan. They figured them out. And we did some unorthodox things to slow them down and it worked.”

Graves gave his team the week off from practices. He’s encouraged his players to get in the gym and get shots up, but the team won’t practice until Saturday morning.

Graves leaves town to recruit Wednesday through Friday.

The break will help the Ducks feel rested after three games in three days in Seattle.

“I like it. It’s a good break for everybody,” Graves said. “You still have to recruit and key an eye to the future. It gives you a chance to go out and see the state tournaments — see kids you hadn’t seen or support the ones you already know you want. I’m going to do a little bit of both.”

The Ducks will practice on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, when the bracket is released at 4 p.m. on ESPN.

Graves indicated that the Ducks will take Tuesday off, practice on Wednesday in Eugene then “likely” leave on Wednesday.

The Ducks hope to send seniors Jacinta Vandenberg and Mar’Shay Moore off with a positive experience in the NCAA Tournament. And for the Ducks’ younger players, postseason play will set the tone for the future, Graves said.

“They were the first seniors to get us to a tournament in a long time,” Graves said. “For the young kids, it’s so valuable. … I think this is a program that’s going to be competing for Final Fours at some point. [And] just to get a taste of it, regardless of how we do — but I still believe if we get in, we can win some games.”

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SEATTLE — The Ducks touched down in Seattle for the Pac-12 Tournament looking for a win or two to cement an NCAA Tournament bid. Though projections didn’t have them on the bubble, they could put all doubts to rest with a solid showing.

On Sunday morning, the Ducks will board a bus back to Seattle with two wins under their belt: Arizona and an upset of No. 11 Washington.

That means the program ought to get used to a bus ride or two later this month — as NCAA Tournament participants. The Ducks weren’t deflated during their postgame press conference following their 71-56 loss to No. 10 Stanford in the semifinal round.

“I think we should celebrate what this team has done. … We’re enjoying the ride. I think we earned a spot,” head coach Kelly Graves said. “It’s not up to me now, that’s up to someone else.”

Sabrina Ionescu, who scored 14 points in the loss, put things more simply.

“I think we’re excited for the rest of March,” Ionescu said.

Ionescu and Maite Cazorla led the team in scoring with 14 points apiece. Mallory McGwire had 10 points in the loss for Oregon (20-13), which shot 33 percent from the field, but 26 percent after the first quarter.

Oti Gildon came off the bench to provide the Ducks with efficient minutes. She scored eight points and had six boards.

Stanford advances to play No. 1-seeded Oregon State in the championship game on Sunday evening.

The Cardinal’s stingy defense was the difference down the stretch, not allowing the Ducks to get many open looks. Stanford didn’t allow an Oregon field goal during the fourth quarter until Cazorla scored with 2:25 left.

Stanford opened the fourth on a 9-2 run to take a 62-49 lead with 3:53 left. Oregon had tied the game at 42-42 early in the third quarter before Stanford mounted an attack. The Ducks cut the deficit to 51-47 on a bucket from McGwire, but that would be as close as it got.

“They played just better and harder in that second half,” Graves said. “Once we got behind a little bit, we tried like crazy to keep up. It just wasn’t happening tonight. We didn’t bring our A-game. You have to — to beat a team like that.”

The gane’s momentum began to swing when Stanford ended the first half on a 10-2 run to take a 36-34 lead to halftime. The Ducks had their largest lead of the game, 25-16, after Ionescu hit a pair of free throws to end the first quarter.

Stanford keyed in on Oregon’s 3-point shooting. The Ducks were 5-of-6 from beyond the arc. Washington allowed the Ducks to go 11-of-23 from 3-point range in the Ducks’ dramatic Friday night win.

“That’s the key to beating them — you can’t let them get 3-point shots, for sure,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said.

Stanford narrowly won the rebounding battle, 40-37. Both teams committed 10 turnovers and both teams had five made free throws.

Though Graves always stressed the importance of feeling disappointed after a loss, the Ducks said that their efforts in Seattle could be a stepping stone to bigger things in the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2005.

“We gave all the teams we played a game,” Ionescu said. “I think it just shows what we’re capable of.”

Overall, Graves departs Seattle proud of the effort from his young team.

“I couldn’t have asked for more,” Graves said.

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SEATTLE — Sabrina Ionescu was just a few seconds late to Oregon’s midcourt celebration.

While her teammates and coaches mobbed together at center court, Ionescu came flying in from the baseline. Head coach Kelly Graves joked, “You’re late to the party.”

“I think I’ve done that about five times, to be honest,” said Ionescu, who scored 18 points, had six assists and six rebounds. “I had to sit down. I couldn’t keep standing. I think I was just embracing the moment. I think we all were in different ways.”

Never seen Graves this happy. Ever. pic.twitter.com/OHsWlVM7Q1

— Jonathan Hawthorne (@Jon_Hawthorne) March 4, 2017

It was Ionescu’s two clutch free throws with 6.4 seconds left that lifted the Ducks over No. 11 Washington 70-69 to advance to the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament.

Lexi Bando exploded for the Ducks during the fourth quarter to help Oregon get back in the game. When Oregon trailed by nine points with 9:00 left, Bando scored 11 consecutive points to cut the Washington lead to 64-61. During that stretch, she became the 28th player in Oregon history to notch 1,000 career points.

“I knew that I needed to step up,” Bando said. “Sabrina was getting me the ball. I just had the mindset — I need to shoot. The ball ended up going in tonight.”

Washington’s Chantel Osahor scored five straight points to give the Huskies a 69-66 lead with 3:05 left. After a few tight defensive battles, a jumper by Bando cut it to a one-point deficit. Ionescu later went to the line with 6.4 seconds left needing to make one free throw to tie — two to take the lead.

“I told myself I wasn’t going to miss those free throws,” Ionescu said. “I didn’t want to let my team down, and since I was put in that position, I was put in that position for a reason.”

Kelsey Plum, who scored 34 points for Washington, had the last look of the game, but two Oregon defenders held her at bay. Her shot didn’t make it to the rim.

“I thought we defended that last one pretty well,” head coach Kelly Graves said. “You know it’s going to be in her hand.”

For much of the game, Maite Cazorla was tasked with guarding Plum, including the final play.

“We were scared because she might draw the foul,” Cazorla said.

Plum didn’t get the call, sending the Ducks into a frenzy before a crowd of 9,686.

Ruthy Hebard nearly tallied a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds while Cazorla had 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting.

Washington coach Mike Neighbors said the Ducks played like they needed a win to cement their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2005. ESPN said after the game the Ducks put those doubts to rest with the win.

“I think what they did tonight is play themselves into a higher seed,” Neighbors said.

Washington put itself in a position to win when the Huskies took a 57-51 lead into the fourth quarter. The Huskies were 12-of-19 from the field during the third. Oregon had a 32-31 lead at halftime and limited to Plum to 15 points at the break.

The Ducks advance to face No. 2-seeded Stanford on Saturday night (8:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network).

“They play really hard, and, like you said, they’re playing with confidence,” Graves said of Stanford. “But, you know, we’re going to be ready. We’re going to fight.

“And I think we can go out and play loose, you know. And I think that will help us tomorrow.”

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SEATTLE — Neither Washington coach Mike Neighbors nor Oregon coach Kelly Graves were fans of the Pac-12’s scheduling rotation the last two years.

The two rivals played each other once per season: Oregon traveled to Washington last year. The Huskies visited Eugene earlier this season. Graves and Neighbors argued that maintaining the “regional rivalry” between the two schools was key towards drawing fans.

“I think you deny the fans something, but I get it,” Graves said last season. “I understand it. It’s their way of being fair.”

No denying the importance of Friday night’s game, a matchup between No. 6 Oregon and No. 3 Washington in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals (8:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network).

The Ducks took down No. 11 Arizona on Thursday for the program’s first Pac-12 Tournament win since 2008. Washington, which earned a bye in the first round, is coming off a dramatic win in which Kelsey Plum set the NCAA all-time scoring record with 57 points against Utah.

Earlier this season, the Ducks lost 99-77 to then-ranked No. 9 Washington at Matthew Knight Arena. Though Plum scored 44 points, the Ducks were without Sabrina Ionescu and Maite Cazorla, arguably the team’s best defender. It was also the first Pac-12 game for Oregon’s group of freshmen.

Oregon guard Sabrina Ionescu (20) tosses the ball during warm ups. The Oregon Ducks host the Northwest Christian University Beacons at Matt Knight Arena in Eugene, Ore. on Oct. 29, 2016. (Kaylee Domzalski/Emerald)

“I think it can be an advantage for us because they haven’t played us with our whole squad,” Graves said. “As far as I’m concerned, we can go out loose. We can play really hard.

“We’ve already been under the lights, so to speak. I think we have some advantages, there’s no doubt about it. But we realize it will be a real challenge.”

Ionescu said earlier this season it was difficult not to play against Washington. The Huskies and Ducks were the final two programs she considered during her unconventional recruiting process.

“That, that was a little tough,” Ionescu said after Oregon’s loss to Stanford in the Bay Area. “There was nothing I could do.”

Plum, along with Chantel Osahor, pace the NCAA in scoring and rebounds, respectively. Oshahor averages 14.9 rebounds and 15.8 points a game. Oregon’s Mallory McGwire remembers the first time she saw Osahor’s unique game — on Twitter.

“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ I’m going to be playing against her,” McGwire said. “When I did, it was like nothing different than what I saw. She’s an amazing player. It’s fun playing against her.”

Ionescu said all five players will have to work in unison to slow down Plum, who averages 31.9 points a game.

“It’ll be fun,” Ionescu said. “She’s a great player. All credit to her, but I think we’ll come out and show them something that they haven’t seen before.”

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SEATTLE — Kelly Graves and the Ducks finally can lay claim to a Pac-12 Tournament win.

The No. 6 Ducks rallied and gritted out a 70-63 win over No. 11 Arizona on Thursday night for the program’s first Pac-12 Tournament win since 2008. Oregon’s talented corps of freshmen, playing in their first game at KeyArena, scored 61 of the team’s 70 points.

That led Graves in awe.

“That’s incredible in any setting, let alone this setting — on this stage,” Graves said. 

The Ducks (19-12) outscored Arizona 29-19 in the final quarter to control the game.

“It’s all the more remarkable that they played so well under pressure and down the stretch,” Graves said. “We needed this — just for our own psyches. This was a really big win, the way we did it.”

Hebard recorded her 10th double-double of the season with 21 points and 12 rebounds. She hit consecutive buckets, one of which was by second-chance effort, to give the Ducks a 62-56 lead with 1:20 left.

Sabrina Ionescu led the Ducks in scoring with 22 points and five assists. Mallory McGwire scored 14 points in the win.

“Close games are always fun. It’s like your blood is running a little more and stuff like that,” McGwire said. “Once you get to the [NCAA] Tournament, all the games will likely be close.”

The Ducks advance to the second round and will play No. 3 Washington on Friday at 8:30 p.m. The Huskies, led by Pac-12 player of the year Kelsey Plum, will undoubtedly draw a large crowd in their home city. Plum scored 57 points in her last game of the regular season.

Oregon was without Ionescu and Maite Cazorla in lone matchup — a Washington win — earlier this season.

“I think it can be an advantage for us because they haven’t played us with our whole squad,” Graves said. “We can go out loose. … We’ve already been under the lights, so to speak, in the tournament.

“We have some advantages, but we realize it’s going to be a real challenge.”

Added Ionescu: “I think we’ll come out and show them something they haven’t seen before.”

McGwire hit a bucket, recorded a block, then scored another bucket to give the Ducks a 54-50 lead with 6:02 left. Arizona, which had its largest lead of the game, 40-33, with 5:16 remaining in the third, owned a 44-41 lead after three quarters.

“I think in the end, our post play was crucial,” Graves said.

The Ducks and Wildcats each had 7-0 runs during the first quarter, but Oregon took a 15-12 lead to the second quarter. Ionescu had eight of her nine first-half points during the opening quarter.

The Wildcats outscored Oregon 17-12 during the second quarter to take a 29-27 lead into intermission. Oregon shot 36 percent from the field and had nine turnovers.

“At halftime, it was, ‘We don’t want to go home. We want to continue playing.’ That always motivates us and it motivates me,” Ionescu said.

The Ducks finished shooting 48.1 percent while Arizona shot 39.7 percent.

Arizona’s LaBrittney Jones finished with 23 points on 9-of-19 shooting. Malena Washington and Lucia Alonso each scored 14 points for the Wildcats, who finished the season 14-16.

Graves said the Ducks will have to stop Plum by committee for a win on Friday night.

“The reality is that we have to lace ‘em up and be ballers,” he said. “Isn’t that we always talk about? Be ballers and play.”

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Kelly Graves’ Ducks will see Arizona once again in the opening round of the Pac-12 Tournament.

But compared to last year, the Ducks are in much better position for a first-round win. Last March, the Ducks were regrouping from the loss of All-American Jillian Alleyne and looking to re-establish themselves. Arizona, meanwhile, was fighting for coach Niya Butts, whose contract was not renewed.

This year’s No. 6-seeded Ducks are at full strength, led by Sabrina Ionescu, who was named Pac-12 freshman of the year by the league’s coaches and media.

The Oregon program hasn’t won a Pac-12 Tournament game since 2008. Oregon will get another shot at a win on Thursday against No. 11-seeded Arizona (8:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network).

Graves called the tournament a “fresh start.”

“Especially the way we finished, losing three in a row — I think we need it. … I think they’re excited to start a new challenge,” Graves said.

The Wildcats, winners of three of their last five games, are projected to start five seniors. The Ducks have started three freshmen for most of the season.

The Ducks won the only matchup between the two programs earlier this season. Ruthy Hebard had 22 points in the 79-65 win. She added 14 rebounds and was 9 of 10 from the field.

Arizona head coach Adia Barnes said the Feb. 3 game wasn’t the Wildcats’ best.

“We didn’t play as aggressive as we do now,” Barnes said. “We just don’t feel like we played well. Credit to Oregon. They pose a lot of problems.”

Barnes added that she thinks a “sense of urgency has arisen,” given the imminent departure of many seniors.

The winner of Thursday night’s game will play No. 3 Washington on Friday at 8:30 p.m. The Huskies, led by Kelsey Plum, will certainly draw a big crowd in their home city. Friday would be Plum’s first game since scoring 57 points and breaking the NCAA’s all-time scoring mark in the regular season finale.

Ionescu, who, along with Hebard, were the only freshmen on the All-Pac-12 team, said the pressure of a tournament environment will likely bring out the Ducks’ best.

“I think with a little pressure — you have to win in order to move on. I think we’ll be a lot more aggressive offensively and defensively as well,” Ionescu said. “… I think it brings out the more competitive side of me as well.”

Graves hasn’t put much thought into the Ducks’ NCAA Tournament standing as of late. Oregon remains a projected No. 9 seed in ESPN’s Bracketology, but a win or two would certainly strengthen the program’s résumé.

“It’s out of our hands — to some degree — once your final game is played,” Graves said. “So let’s win as many games as we can and that will make us look better.”

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Willie Taggart’s staff is officially complete — for the second time since he was hired.

(Courtesy: Oregon athletics)

After the departures of Jimmie Dougherty and David Reaves, Taggart had to fill two slots. The Ducks officially named Michael Johnson as wide receivers coach on Wednesday morning to finalize Taggart’s assistant coaching staff.

Johnson comes to Oregon with coaching experience at a variety of locations, including 10 seasons in the NFL. He was most recently the head coach at The King’s Academy in Sunnyvale, California.

Johnson’s son is a highly touted recruit in the the 2019 class. Johnson Jr. is a four-star, 6-foot-3 quarterback by 247Sports and holds offers from Michigan, Texas, USC, Florida and others.

Johnson was offensive coordinator for the 49ers in 2010 and worked as an offensive coordinator for UCLA in 2011. During his stint in Los Angeles, he was interim head coach after Rick Neuheisel’s firing.

He’s also worked with the Baltimore Ravens, Atlanta Falcons and San Diego Chargers. Johnson began his coaching career at Oregon State in 1997 where he was wide receivers coach then quarterbacks coach.

Johnson played college ball at the University of Akron, Mesa Community College and Arizona State.

News of Johnson’s hire broke on Feb. 17. Johnson replaces Dougherty, who left Oregon to become the wide receivers coach at UCLA.

On Feb. 13, MLive.com reported that Johnson would join the Michigan staff as an analyst. But instead, he will coach for Taggart, one of Harbaugh’s coaching mentees.

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This week, media and coaches will cast their ballots for end-of-the-season awards. Among those honors is the freshman of the year award, given annually to the Pac-12’s top newcomer. Both Ruthy Hebard and Sabrina Ionescu have made strong impressions in 2016-17. And both likely have a shot at earning recognition.

Oregon Ducks forward Ruthy Hebard (24) fights through an attempted block by Stanford Cardinal forward Erica McCall (24). (Aaron Nelson/Emerald)

The last Oregon player to earn freshman of the year accolades was Jillian Alleyne in 2012-13 (media vote).

Voters will likely look at a variety of statistics when making their decisions. Hebard, the Fairbanks, Alaska, native ranks No. 10 in the Pac-12 in scoring at 14.7 points a game. Ionescu, meanwhile, ranks No. 12 with 13.9 points a game.

Both Hebard (8.4 rebounds a game) and Ionescu (6.8 rebounds) finished the regular season in the top 10 in rebounding.

Ionescu ranked No. 3 in assists per game while Hebard paced the conference in field goal percentage — 63.2 percent. She’s on pace to break the Oregon single-season record of 61.4 percent.

Both Ionescu and Hebard have impressed Oregon head coach Kelly Graves.

“We’re not surprised in that we knew she had a lot of potential,” Graves said of Hebard earlier this month. “But it’s a lot to ask for a freshman this early on. It’s incredible what she’s doing.”

Cal coach Lindsey Gottlieb, who recruited Ionescu as a prep player at Miramonte, had high praise for Oregon’s freshman guard who tallied four triple-doubles, breaking the Oregon career record.

“If you love basketball, you love watching Sabrina,” Gottlieb said. “She makes them go, not to take anything away from Ruthy or Mallory. But people get open looks because Sabrina is just a surgeon with a basketball in her hands. I’m proud of what she’s doing here.”

Both Hebard and Ionescu were highly ranked by recruiting services coming out of high school. Ionescu was named MaxPreps player of the year nationally. Hebard earned Alaska Gatorade player of the year three times during high school.

Graves has said he’s been more surprised with Hebard’s ability; the Ducks knew Ionescu would have an immediate impact.

“I think everyone kind of knew what Sabrina had in her game and the impact she was going to make,” Graves said during an appearance on the Dishin & Swishin Podcast. “I don’t think many people though Ruthy was going to be able to come in and impact the game like she has.

“Her ability to finish is better than I dreamed it was going to be this early in her career.”

Ionescu and Hebard’s play impressed the podcast’s host, David Siegel.

“Those two, in my opinion, are probably the best 1-2 punch of freshmen in the country,” he said.

Whoever the coaches and media select, the Ducks know they scored one of the nation’s top recruiting classes, which quickly led to two of the conference’s top rookie talents.

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