INDIANAPOLIS — Chris Duarte scored 23 points and Oregon showed no signs of rust in beating No. 2 seed Iowa 95-80 to reach the Sweet 16.
The seventh-seed Ducks were put in an unprecedented spot by advancing to the West Region’s second round without playing a game. Virginia Commonwealth’s multiple positive COVID-19 tests took care of that and left the Ducks with a nine-day gap since losing in the Pac-12 Tournament title game.
Oregon’s offense hummed like it was fresh off the line once the ball went up. It kicked off the NCAA Tournament’s first Monday of second-round games with a masterpiece.
Oregon will face the winner of USC and Kansas in the Sweet 16.