IOWA CITY, Iowa — In a sold-out Huge Ten showdown earlier than a nationwide prime-time viewers, No. 3 Iowa as soon as once more reminded No. 13 Indiana and everybody else watching that it has Caitlin Clark — and so they don’t.
The Hawkeyes buried the Hoosiers with a 3-point barrage, pulling down 15 in an 84-57 blowout Saturday night time at Carver-Hawkeye Area. Amongst her 30 factors, Iowa’s Clark drilled a pair of emblem 3-pointers and dished 11 assists. The victory was as dominant because it was full. Take into account it a extremely seen assertion by the defending NCAA runners-up to the remainder of ladies’s basketball.
“I feel the sky’s the restrict,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder mentioned.
It’s hardly uncommon for a sport between the Hawkeyes and Hoosiers to generate eyeballs and curiosity. Within the land of yesteryear, which feels nearer to yesterday than 4 a long time in the past, Iowa and Indiana matchups offered out Carver-Hawkeye Area, and iconic males’s basketball coaches Bob Knight and Tom Davis appeared bigger than life.
In 2024, it’s nonetheless taking place. This time, it entails their ladies’s basketball groups. Bluder, the winningest coach in Huge Ten ladies’s basketball historical past, stood on one aspect whereas IU’s Teri Moren, who guided the Hoosiers to the Huge Ten regular-season crown final yr, walked the alternative sideline. Clark, the reigning nationwide participant of the yr, confronted a fellow Naismith finalist in heart Mackenzie Holmes.
The Hawkeyes (17-1, 6-0 Huge Ten) and Hoosiers (14-2, 5-1) entered the sport unbeaten and tied atop the Huge Ten standings. After Iowa’s Gabbie Marshall drilled a 3-pointer to place the Hawkeyes up by 15 factors, the sound inside reached 115 decibels. The Hawkeyes gained decisively — and Clark as soon as once more stole the present — however the scene and setup have been as notable because the consequence.
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Followers carrying black and gold crammed the sector bowl regardless of 25 inches of snow hitting the Iowa Metropolis space and a blizzard sending the wind chill to 29 levels beneath zero. Gus Johnson and Sarah Kustok referred to as the sport for Fox in prime time, and that this showdown aired on a serious community opposed by an NFL playoff sport confirmed it’s no novelty act.
“This sport being televised was an enormous deal,” Bluder mentioned. “I feel it’s partly due to the environment that we now have right here at Iowa. You had two nice groups competing towards one another. You’ve received the very best participant in America. I imply, that’s must-see TV. So why wouldn’t you wish to have this sport on?”
It has been some time since I’ve felt this type of vitality at Carver. Most likely not because the final time these two groups performed.
Indiana and Iowa entered the Huge Ten on the identical day: Dec. 1, 1899. They have been the primary two enlargement groups in faculty sports activities historical past.
— Scott Dochterman (@ScottDochterman) January 14, 2024
Johnson had by no means watched Clark in individual and was giddy to name her sport when he arrived two hours earlier than tip. He received his begin within the enterprise as a pupil broadcasting Howard Girl Bison video games with coach Sanya Tyler and referred to as New York Liberty video games within the WNBA for 10 years. Of all the good athletes he has coated, he sees one thing totally different in Clark, whom he referred to as a “virtuoso.”
“I had by no means watched a participant like Diana (Taurasi), particularly when she received to the WNBA,” Johnson mentioned. “However this younger woman (Clark) is a complete totally different stage. She’s enjoying in a distinct dimension, a distinct realm.
“She is an ideal instance of the evolution of the sport of basketball. I’ve by no means seen a lady with that type of vary and that type of fluidness, deal with. She will go wherever she desires to go on the court docket, and he or she’s received an unimaginable acumen for this sport. She sees issues folks don’t see.”
When requested in regards to the Clark phenomenon, Johnson in contrast the Iowa senior to the head of athletic success.
“Michael Jordan,” Johnson mentioned. “He was Mick Jagger. He was a one-man rock present, and that’s what Caitlin is. She’s a rock star. Individuals simply gravitate in the direction of her due to her spectacular play. She doesn’t simply play nicely; she performs with a pizzazz, a swagger, a cockiness, orneriness, however with an enormous smile, type of like Larry Chicken used to. Excuse my French, however she’ll speak greater than a bit of s— to you on the ground.”
With 32 seconds left within the third quarter, Clark blasted a 3-pointer from the emblem’s Tigerhawk beak to provide the Hawkeyes a commanding 63-48 lead. Clark waved her arms and the gang responded enthusiastically. On Iowa’s first possession within the fourth quarter, Clark handed to protect Molly Davis for a layup and tweaked her ankle. One minute later, Clark re-entered the sport to applause. It was her forty sixth profession 30-point sport.
However what additionally makes Iowa so harmful are the gamers who encompass Clark. Davis scored 18 factors and choked up in a postgame information convention after describing her increasing position with the Hawkeyes. Kate Martin remained the Hawkeyes’ glue performer with 10 factors and 12 rebounds. Marshall drained 4 3-pointers, and no one areas the ground — which helps Clark — higher when she’s pulling down perimeter photographs.
At sport’s finish, maybe a thousand youths lined up close to the tunnel to Iowa’s locker room, hoping for an image or a signature from Clark. With safety round her, Clark signed a couple of autographs, then left for the locker room. She’s the celebrity at residence or away, and each sport she has performed not a impartial web site has offered out this yr. It’s generated intense love in most conditions — or modest vitriol in others.
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“That’s what sort of comes with it when you may have the stardom,” she mentioned. “I feel one thing that I attempt to stay by is, on the stage you are feeling the reward, that’s the extent you’re going to really feel the hate, too. So that you’ve received to remain proper within the center.”
Both means, Clark and the Hawkeyes proceed to raise the game with every sport, whether or not it’s an exhibition on a soccer area or a sold-out residence sport with the most cost effective pre-blizzard tickets going for practically $270 apiece. Their touring rock present will refill many arenas and generate high quality tv rankings.
“All people loves a winner,” Johnson mentioned. “They wish to see her play as a result of she’s a winner. And she or he’s going to maintain profitable. And hold wonderful, I feel, America and the world.”
(Photograph: Matthew Holst / Getty Photos)