Oregon's Couisnard: Ex-teammate's trash talk fueled career night
Oregon star Jermaine Couisnard had some motivation as he torched his old school for a career-high 40 points.
Couisnard said a former South Carolina teammate he mentored during the 2021-22 campaign talked some trash after making a three over him in the first half, which prompted a big response from him in the next 20 minutes, per Matt Prehm of 247 Sports.
The opponent was guard Jacobi Wright, who said, "It's cash," after the basket, according to James Crepea of The Oregonian.
Couisnard went off for 26 points on 8-of-13 shooting in the second half as he established a new single-game Ducks record for points in an NCAA Tournament game.
The fifth-year guard is only the third player to tally at least 40 points and five assists in the Big Dance since dimes began to be tracked in 1986, per statistician Jared Berson. He's also joins Stephen Curry and Wally Szczerbiak as the only players in the past 25 NCAA tourneys to score 40 points for a double-digit seed.
Couisnard has enjoyed his best two campaigns since joining Oregon in 2022. He's averaging a career-high 15.4 points and earned All-Pac-12 second-team honors.
The Ducks will take on Creighton in the Round of 32.