Oregon Basketball: Ducks Fly Past Iowa, Garza Into Sweet 16
The Iowa Hawkeyes had no answers for Oregon’s pace, losing despite Luka Garza’s 36 point effort.
Oregon Basketball had ten days to prepare for their first NCAA Tournament game. It was supposed to be against VCU, but the game was cancelled due to COVID-19. While VCU saw their season come to an end, Oregon moved on to face Iowa in the Round of 32.
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Oregon came in as the 7 seed, Iowa the 2 seed. The Big Ten so far in this tournament has been part of the madness with high seeded teams losing. Ohio State, Illinois, and now the Hawkeyes all went down to higher-seeded teams. The seeding does not really mean that much to Head Coach Dana Altman. I remember speaking with him several years ago. He basically said you have an opponent, you prepare for them. It’s that simple.
Oregon lost in the Pac-12 Tournament, not making it to the final. If they had won the conference tournament they would have likely been seeded as a 3 or 4 seed at worst. Altman has a way of getting his guys ready for big games. He has never lost a game in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Add the asterisk here if you wish.
The Oregon Ducks were ready to deal with Luka Garza and despite getting his points. He ended with 36 in the loss, the Ducks found ways defensively to keep Iowa from playing in their comfort zone. Three Hawkeye starters were held scoreless as they hit 45 percent from the floor for the game.
Oregon did not allow a bench player into the game for the better part of three quarters, allowing their starters to find their comfort zone. Chris Duarte led four starters in double figures finishing with 23 points off 9 for 12 shooting. LJ Figuroa roasted Iowa from the left side with a three-point barrage hitting five of nine for the game. The Ducks had 25 assists in the game.
The team’s 95 points were the most the team has ever scored in an NCAA Tournament game. Oregon shot 56 percent from the floor and 44 percent from beyond the arc in the 95-80 win.
Oregon now moves on to the round of 16 and will face the winner of USC and Kentucky on Monday night.