No First Round was no problem for 7-seed Oregon Ducks on Monday, who eradicated the 2-seed Iowa Hawkeyes in a 95-80 win on Monday in the second round of March Madness play.
The Ducks Senior Guard Chris Duarte paved the way for Oregon, putting up 23 points, 7 assists, and 3 rebounds. Duarte averaged 16.7 points and 4.7 rebounds before the matchup against Iowa.
Oregon is one of three PAC-12 teams to advance to the Sweet Sixteen this year, joining the 12-seed Oregon State Beavers and the 6-seed USC Trojans.
Garza Still Shines
Reigning Big-Ten Player of the Year Luka Garza would not go down without a fight, putting up a stupendous 36 points and 9 rebounds. Coming into Monday, Garza led the Big-10 in points with an average of 23.7 points per game. 22 of Garza’s 36 points would come in the first half alone, when he shot 8-10 from the field.
Garza did not feel as if his 36 points were enough. In his post-game press conference he said, “I just feel bad that I wasn’t able to lead this team to where it needs to go, and we did a lot of really, really good things this year, and it just hurts that we weren’t able to do it when it mattered most, and that’s something that’s going to haunt me forever.”
Garza’s next step will be the NBA, the Senior Forward will most likely be drafted in this year’s NBA draft.
Starting Five Spotlight
The Oregon Starting 5 would score 89 of Oregon’s 95 points. Along with Duarte’s 23- point performance, Senior Guard L.J Figueroa scored 21, and Junior Guard Will Richardson put up 19. All Duck starters played 30 or more minutes, including Richardson, who never left the court.
Overall, the Ducks shot 56% from the field and had a combined 7 steals, 6 blocks, and 8 offensive rebounds.
Up Next
The Ducks will face a PAC-12 rival, the 6-seed USC Trojans in the Sweet Sixteen on Sunday, March 28 at 9:45pm at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
