Mutual respect exists between Oregon's Dana Altman, Creighton's Greg McDermott

When the third-seeded Creighton Bluejays take the court Saturday for their NCAA Tournament second-round game with 11th-seeded Oregon at PPG Paints Arena, the past and present of their basketball program will intersect.

Coaching the Ducks is Dana Altman, who previously coached at Creighton from 1994-2010.

After Altman’s departure for Oregon, he was replaced by Greg McDermott, who is in his 14th season with Creighton.

During his time in Omaha, Altman went 327-176 (.650) and led the Bluejays to the NCAA Tournament seven times.

McDermott has won 324 games with Creighton.

In one of Altman’s final acts as coach there, he recruited McDermott’s son, Doug, who went on to play four years at Creighton after his father took over before embarking on an NBA career now in its 10th year.

Long after Altman’s time at Creighton ended, his father, Lyle, and brother, Dirk, still showed up to monthly Bluejays basketball luncheons, forging a relationship with McDermott.

The coaches’ friendship and mutual respect will serve as a backdrop Saturday night’s game (9:40 p.m., TBS).

“Since my time in Omaha, now a lot of my very close, personal friends are also people who were very close, personal friends of Dana when he was in town,” McDermott said. “You learn a lot about someone by talking to their friends and (seeing) how he treated people.

“ … He’ll always be beloved in our community, and I know this will be a hard game for some of our fans because they cheer for Dana absolutely every game.”

McDermott credited Altman for laying a foundation at Creighton, but the Bluejays’ current coach has led his program to greener pastures.

The furthest Altman got in an NCAA Tournament was the second round, doing so twice.

Last year, McDermott’s squad made it to the Elite 8, the first time Creighton had done so since 1941.

“I love the job he’s done at Creighton,” Altman said. “It’s so good to watch from afar, and like I said yesterday, it might be my ego or whatever, but I still feel a part of it. I still cheer for them. My family is all back in Nebraska. And Oregon might be 1, but Creighton is 1A.”

Saturday will not be the first time the coaches have met in the postseason.

In 2011, when both coaches still were getting settled in at their new schools, Oregon and Creighton played in the College Basketball Invitational finals, a best-of-three series the Ducks won 2-1.

Creighton defeated Oregon, 84-76, in Game 1, but the Ducks bounced back with a 71-58 win in Game 2.

Then, in the decisive matchup, Oregon edged Creighton, 71-69.

To this day, McDermott contests the over-and-back violation his team was called for at the end of that winner-take-all contest, setting up the Ducks’ game-winning shot.

However, meeting Altman and the Ducks in the finals after beginning the CBI on opposite ends of the bracket was quite the experience.

“That’s the last thing you want to do as the new coach who’s replacing a guy who’s beloved by everybody and has unprecedented success. … It was an interesting way to end that first year,” McDermott said.

Oregon and Creighton boast two of the best big men in college basketball in 7-foot N’Faly Dante and 7-1 Ryan Kalkbrenner, both 22-year-old seniors.

In Oregon’s first-round win over South Carolina, Dante scored 23 points, the same amount Kalkbrenner had in his team’s victory against Akron.

South Carolina couldn’t prevent Dante from doing damage in the paint, and he also got to the free-throw line 15 times.

Kalkbrenner, winner of three straight Big East Defensive Player of the Year honors and who has yet to foul out in a game this season, will look to neutralize Dante as much as possible.

“Watching the game yesterday, he shot a lot of free throws,” Kalkbrenner said. “They’re probably going to try to do that again, getting me in foul trouble and whatnot. But I feel like, especially in the Big East, we played a lot of bigs who were super physical like that.

“… There’s going to be a lot of competition at the rim. So I’ve gotten a lot of practice this year trying to stay out of foul trouble. I think I’ve done a pretty good job so far. Just try to do that again. He’s a really talented big man, super physical, so I’ll have my hands full for sure.”

Dante will have a similar tall task on his hands.

“Ryan is a tremendous defensive player,” Altman said. “ … He just protects the paint, he’s long and he’s got unbelievable timing. He just (has) really good instincts.”

However, the biggest star of Oregon’s first-round win was senior guard Jermaine Couisnard, who scored 40 points on 14-of-22 shooting, including 5 of 9 on 3-pointers.

He set a career high and shattered Oregon’s program record for points in an NCAA Tournament game.

“He scored at every level (Thursday), and we have to make sure that we can get him to take the shots that we want him to take, not the shots that he wants to take,” McDermott said. “That sounds easy in theory. It’s very difficult because of his size and strength and the pace that he plays with.”

Creighton’s other top offensive weapons include Trey Alexander (17.6 points per game) and Baylor Scheierman (18.3 ppg), both back from the Bluejays’ Elite 8 run last year.

“Offensively they’re a handful,” Altman said. “Defensively their numbers are good, and that’s why I say we’re going to have to bring our ‘A’ game. We’re going to have to play very well.”