INDIANAPOLIS -- Disappointment set in when Oregon's first-round NCAA men's tournament game against VCU was declared a no-contest Saturday.
The Ducks wouldn't be going home, like first-round opponent VCU, which had multiple positive COVID-19 tests on its roster. But after spending days in the NCAA bubble, they desperately wanted to play. During a conditioning session Saturday night, coach Dana Altman reminded his players, "Hey, we got a game." Oregon then scrimmaged Sunday.
The wait to begin the tournament didn't faze the seventh-seeded Ducks, who blitzed No. 2 seed Iowa 95-80 on Monday afternoon in a second-round matchup at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.