Four of the top 10 teams in country to play in Paradise Jam

NEW YORK (AP) — Oregon coach Kelly Graves is excited to bring his team to U.S. Virgin Islands for holidays.

. 1 Ducks will play three games in three days at Parise Jam Tournament beginning Thursday, including finale against . 8 Louisville on Saturday. Oklahoma State and UT Arlington are also in Ducks’ bracket.

That’s only half of a loed field that will spend Thanksgiving off continental U.S. Second-ranked Baylor, . 5 South Carolina and . 17 Indiana are in or bracket. Ly Bears and Gamecocks will face off on Saturday, too. eight teams in tournament haven’t lost a game this season, going a combined 37-0.

“We play three really good teams back to back to back. ne of m have lost yet. And y all pose different challenges. Oklahoma State, Texas-Arlington, and n Louisville,” Graves said. “It’s going to test us. We knew this stretch would, and after those three games we go home for South Dakota State. se are five NCAA Tournament teams that we play back to back to back in lots of different time zones. We’ve got our work cut out for us and our bench is going to need to come up really big in that tournament.”

Usually Thanksgiving tournaments might have one or two good teams, but to have four of top 10 in same field makes Parise Jam loed.

“It’s like an Elite Eight or Final Four with really good teams playing in same place,” Louisville coach Jeff Walz said. “We will see a lot of great basketball down re.”

Both Walz and Graves said that if ir team’s look ahe to Saturday’s matchup, re is a good chance y could falter before that game.

“Oklahoma State just dismantled a really good Rice team,” Walz said. “Texas-Arlington is also good. Our depth is going to get tested.”

This is first time this season that so many top teams will be in same place. So far, of top 10 teams, only South Carolina and Maryland have faced each or. That will change this week.

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley would love to see an early season women’s doubleheer like one men have with Champions Classic that features Duke, Kentucky, Kansas and Michigan State.

“I think it would create a lot of buzz, even if we played it during day. I would like to see that game on ESPN like men’s game,” Staley said. ... I think it would be a great thing.”

tournament this weekend in Virgin Islands will only be available to watch on a streaming service.

Here are a few or tidbits from tournament:

ALL IN FAMILY: Gerlich family loyalties will be divided Saturday when UT Arlington faces Oklahoma State. Krista Gerlich is coach of Ly Mavericks and her daughter Bryn plays for Oklahoma State. This will be first meeting between m. Bryn, a sophomore, is averaging about 7 minutes a game.

CHALLENGING TRIP: Washington State will be only program to face three-ranked teams in tournament. Cougars (4-0) play Baylor, South Carolina and Indiana. Cougars alrey have an impressive win at Boise State and have won ir first four games for fifth time in program history — last came in 2015-16.

“I’m happy for this team. We’re at a different level in practice compared to last year. We’re seeing real signs of growth and we’re proving it by winning some early games,” coach Kamie Ethridge said. “I think that’s a reflection that we’re better than we were a year ago. It feels like we’re going in right direction.”

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