Oregon's Chris Duarte (5) shoots over Oregon State's Zach Reichle (11) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinal round of the Pac-12 men's tournament on March 12.
John Locher
The Oregon Ducks moved on in the West Region without the usual excitement that accompanies moving on.
Or with that momentum boost, either.
The Ducks earned a free pass to the second round after positive virus tests bounced VCU from the NCAA Tournament hours before Saturday’s scheduled tip-off. Waiting for Oregon on Monday (9:10 am. Pacific time on CBS) will be No. 2 seed Iowa, which is now tournament-tested after an 86-74 win over Grand Canyon.
Meanwhile, the seventh-seeded Ducks straddle a fine line between rested and rusty. By the time Oregon takes the floor, it will have been 10 days since the Ducks played in the Pac-12 Conference Tournament.
“I don’t think there will be rust,” Oregon guard Will Richardson said. “We’ve been practicing every day, going hard, treating every day like game day. I think there will be a little nerves for some of us. But we'll quickly get over that.”
Oregon coach Dana Altman is hoping the Ducks can weather the first 10 minutes, just to settle in and get back "in the flow of things after a 10-day layoff,” he said.
It certainly was a wild swing of emotions for the Ducks on Saturday. Altman said he was in the middle of a pregame meal when athletic director Rob Mullens summoned him out of the room.
“I knew something was wrong," Altman said. “I got a little nervous. I was worried maybe it was our guys.”
It wasn't. VCU had multiple players test positive for COVID-19. The Rams received the news of the cancellation — officially declared a “no contest” — after they had finished their pregame meal.
For the Ducks, it was off to the court for a late-night practice session.
The intensity was low at first, but then quickly "picked up, realizing we’ve got a game on Monday,” Altman explained. “It’s not the way you want to advance. You want to go out and play and win games and get some momentum going."
Iowa big man Luka Garza knows the Ducks will be antsy to kick off their tournament.
“It’s unfortunate the game wasn’t able to happen for them,” Garza said. “They’ll be excited and pumped up to play us.”