Oregon basketball gets tough matchup with No. 10 VCU in first round

Oregon basketball earned a No. 7 seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament with a first-round matchup coming against a tough VCU team.

Oregon might just be the best No. 7 seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament after finishing the season 20-6 and just missing out on the Pac-12 Tournament title game with a loss to Oregon State.

The Ducks were granted a No. 7 seed in the West Region with a first-round matchup coming against No. 10 VCU on March 20. This is going to be a tough matchup for the Ducks as VCU finished the year 19-7 and nearly won the Atlantic 10 Tournament but St. Bonaventure took it to the Rams on Sunday afternoon.

VCU has been tested all season and beat teams like Memphis and Utah State in non-conference plat and hung with Penn State and West Virginia as well.

Unfortunately, the Rams went 3-3 in their last six games and it seemed like Nah’Shon Hyland was hobbled a bit. He’s the team’s leading scorer but was suffering with a lingering foot injury over the final couple of weeks and the Rams aren’t nearly as good when he’s not at full-strength.

The Rams are known more for defense, allowing just under 65 points per game and the offense isn’t exactly explosive, averaging around 72 points. Another positive development here for Oregon: the Rams are not a good rebounding team. That’s great news for the Ducks because, well, they aren’t exactly dominant on the glass either.

Oregon should win this game and as long as they contain Hyland, they have the firepower to put this game out of reach. But get cold from deep and struggle on the glass like they did against Oregon State and the Ducks will be headed home early.

If Oregon does win this first-round game, they’ll likely see a really good Iowa team in the Round of 32, led by Luka Garza — that offense is scary.