Stingy defense and offensive rebounding helped Iowa secure a 67-61 win over Clemson and advance to the second round.
For the first time in five years, the Iowa men's basketball team has won an NCAA tournament game.
It wasn't always pretty, but the No. 9-seeded Hawkeyes used stingy defense and offensive rebounding to secure a 67-61 victory over the eighth-seeded Clemson Tigers at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Florida on Friday.
Bennett Stirtz again led the way with 16 points, but junior guard Kael Combs played a huge role in Iowa's win. He finished with 15 big points on 5/7 shooting.
Iowa advances to the second round, where it will face the winner of the matchup between No. 1 Florida and No. 16 Prairie View A&M (which takes place later tonight) on Sunday afternoon.
First Half
Iowa's first March Madness bucket in 1,099 days came on a Kael Combs triple with one second remaining on the shot clock. That energized the Hawkeye faithful, and their basketball team responded by jumping out to an 8-3 lead at the first media timeout.
Clemson's preference is to play through the paint, so Iowa's game plan was to prevent that from happening. Ben McCollum was definitely pleased with the execution early on, as the Tigers were forced to settle for outside shots - where they made just 1/6 to begin the game.
TNT highlighted it to open its telecast, but one of the Hawkeyes' trademarks under McCollum this year is taking as much time off the shot clock as possible in order to dictate the pace of the contest. That worked to perfection in the first half, especially when Combs had the rock.
The three to begin the game was just a sign of what was to come in the period. Combs' first eight point of the half all came as the shot clock ticked down, and Tavion Banks would follow suit later on. All of this helped Iowa reach a 12-point lead (22-10) and force Clemson to burn a timeout.
The Hawkeyes struggled to muster much offense after that, much to the chagrin of their head coach, and that coincided with the Tigers catching fire from deep. Though Iowa finished the first half shooting 42% from the floor and led by 10 points for most of the half, the late Clemson surge ultimately led to momentum and a 32-25 halftime lead for the Hawkeyes.
Second Half
After going just 2/8 from the floor in the first, Bennett Stirtz promptly buried an open three to begin the second half. That looked like it would get Iowa going again, but it was the exact opposite. The triple at the 19:29 mark would be the Hawkeyes' last field goal until 13:48 and the Tigers took full advantage of it.
Iowa's lead was just two points at this point, but the man that ended the drought was the one that technically started it - Stirtz. McCollum called a quick timeout right after the shot went through with the hopes of resetting his team.
Whatever was said in the timeout worked. Clemson was playing tough defense, but Iowa generated a cushion thanks to its work on the offensive glass. The Hawkeyes didn't always pay it off with buckets, but when they did, it was detrimental to the Tigers.
Freshman Tate Sage was the recipient of that, and his presence on the floor sparked the Iowa offense and triggered a game-changing 12-2 run and 49-37 edge with nine minutes to play.
Clemson still had more than enough time to make a rally, and it did just that, burying a pair of triples to cut the deficit down to 54-48 with 5:31 left. As the clock continued to wind down, the Tigers desperate attempts only increased - even resorting to intentionally fouling Cam Manyawu because of his poor free throw shooting.
Manyawu was quickly pulled from the game, but the difference continued to be Iowa's work on the offensive glass. Clemson would often force the Hawkeyes into late shot clock situations, but Iowa managed to rip its heart out by grabbing the offensive board or making free throws.
Even still, the Tigers were still very much alive. Leading 61-57, the Hawkeyes were in desperate need of a field goal. They found it in the form of Combs, who drove through the cleared out lane for a layup and a 63-57 lead.
Iowa salted the game away at the stripe after that, and celebrated a berth in the second round.
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