Kael Combs stepped up when the lights were bright, and Iowa is on to the second round for the first time since 2021.
To some people, the year 2021 was a lifetime ago.
As an Iowa basketball fan what they remember about the year, and they will fondly remember the close of Luka Garza's legendary career in the Black and Gold.
Garza led the 2021 Hawkeyes to one NCAA tournament victory, but it was Iowa's last successful game in the Big Dance under Fran McCaffery.
Iowa hired Ben McCollum in the 2025-26 offseason, and the 44-year-old coach has already equaled McCaffery's deepest NCAA run in his first season in Iowa City.
It wasn't the prettiest ballgame, but the No. 9-seeded Hawkeyes enough free throws down the stretch to take home a 67-61 triumph over eighth-seeded Clemson on Friday in Tampa, Florida.
Here are three observations from the win:
Combs beats the shot clock
TNT analyst Dan Bonner was quick to point this out, but the 2025-26 Hawkeyes - like any Ben McCollum-coached team - love to dictate the pace of play by grinding out every possession. That's exactly what Iowa did in the first half, and no one did it better than junior guard Kael Combs.
The Hawkeyes were going nowhere on their first offensive trip of the game, but Combs bailed them out with a deep triple from the top of the key. That helped Iowa get things going, but Combs was far from done. He canned a floater and an additional trey in the waning seconds of the shot clock later on in the period, and those buckets played a pivotal role in giving the Hawkeyes a 32-25 halftime lead.
This section was almost halted after the first half, but Combs made two massive plays in the second half to carry Iowa to victory. The first was a simple driving layup, but it was significant because it was the Hawkeyes' first field goal since the 9:21 mark of the half.
Iowa led 63-57 after that, and Combs put the finishing touches on the win by securing an awkward rebound on Clemson's next possession. He finished the night with 15 points (second-most on the team) on 5/7 shooting.
"I just try to do whatever the team needs me to do to win, and if that's going to get 50-50, balls and playing defense and running the offense, getting people up, that's what I'm going to do," Combs said after the win.
Offensive glass was the difference
While Combs was Iowa's best player on this night, the Hawkeyes' best tool was the glass. That's a sentence not many Iowa fans have read this year, but the Hawkeyes completely outmatched the Tigers on the offensive glass. The difference was only five (15-10), but every time Iowa crashed the boards, it did so when it was struggling to score.
The Hawkeyes' leading rebounder was Cam Manyawu. The junior nabbed 10 boards (four offensive), and though he had a rough outing offensively (one point), the rebounds played a pivotal role in taking extra opportunities away from Clemson.
"In late season play, it's important to be able to get 50-50, balls. And I thought our kids did a good job of that," McCollum said. "We're used to it in the Big Ten. It's a heavy rebounding league, and so you just have to get used to getting 50-50, balls."
This was the type of game where every possession mattered, and it's why Iowa is still dancing.
Sage sparks the offense
Tate Sage played just 13 minutes in this game, but he made the most of them. The freshman has earned a "spark plug" role off the bench in crucial moments this year, and he came up big again on Friday, collecting seven points on 3/5 shooting.
All seven points came near the rim, which is fitting for Sage. It doesn't look like he's nervous when he comes into the game, and that shows when he makes confident drives or cuts to the cup.
Iowa might've won this game without Sage, but his efforts helped the Hawkeyes stem the tide midway through the second half.
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