– After a late game rally to get past St. Joseph’s on Sunday, Oregon men’s basketball will play defending champion Duke on Thursday in the Sweet 16. Duke’s combination of big man Marshall Plumlee, and wings Grayson Allen and Brandon Ingram, who could be the No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, present a formidable trio that will challenge Oregon on both ends of the floor. However, Duke has limited depth beyond those three and only bring two players off the bench in most games.
– Oregon women’s basketball kept its season alive with a 84-59 win over Fresno State at Matthew Knight Arena on Monday in the WNIT. The Ducks shot 65 percent for the game and four players reached double figures in scoring, led by Maite Cazorla’s 20 points to go along with nine assists. The win advanced Oregon to the third round of the WNIT, where they will host Utah at Matt Knight on Wednesday. The Ducks defeated Utah in two previous Pac-12 games this season.
– No. 7 Oregon softball opened its Pac-12 slate with a series sweep over No. 8 Washington in Seattle. The series was capped off with a run-ruled, 16-4 win in six innings on Monday. Nikki Udria and Koral Costa each had four RBIs, while Lauren Lindvall added three. The Ducks will play Stanford on Thursday in their home opener, and the first game to be played in the newly-constructed Jane Sanders Stadium.
– Three Oregon track and field athletes were honored by the Pac-12 this week after beginning the outdoor season at the Willie Williams Classic in San Francisco. Devon Allen was named men’s track athlete of the week after winning the the open 100 meter race, 200-meters and 110-meter hurdles. Annie LeBlanc was named women’s track athlete of the week with wins in the 1500 meters and 800-meter race. Finally, Cody Danielson recieved men’s field athlete of the week honors for his 251-9 (76.74m) throw to win the javelin by 40 feet.
– Oregon baseball fell out of D1baseball.com’s top 25 rankings after losing five out the last six, including two of three in their Pac-12 Conference series opener against Utah. While the pitching staff of Cole Irvin, Matt Krook and David Pederson has met preseason expectations, but the offense continues to struggle. The Ducks rank 288th out of 295 in the country in batting average (.207), 262nd in on-base percentage (.314) and 245th in runs scored (74).
“Well, one step forward, and I would say two steps back, but that was five steps back. It was awful,” Oregon coach George Horton said after Oregon’s 2-0 loss to Utah on Sunday.
Follow Will Denner on Twitter @Will_Denner