No. 4 Iowa vs Michigan State | Big Ten | 1.2.24 скачать в хорошем качестве

No. 4 Iowa vs Michigan State | Big Ten | 1.2.24

IOWA CITY — Iowa vs Michigan State Written by Dargan Southard | Des Moines Register Those cloaked in Iowa gold wiggled and fidgeted as the scoreboard drama intensified, this sold-out affair unfolding much differently than expected. The long Big Ten slog tends to produce a few of these even for seasoned squads. In swooped Caitlin Clark to make sure everyone rested easy. Locked in a clunky offensive battle Tuesday with a Michigan State women's basketball team trending upward, No. 4 Iowa had to quickly brush away any thoughts of a masterpiece and shift to finding an escape route. Unsurprisingly, it was Clark who located it — burying a logo trey at the horn to hand the Hawkeyes a 76-73 win at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. "Honestly, when it left my hand, I knew it was going in," said Clark, whose shot was reminiscent of her buzzer 3-pointer to beat Indiana last season. The immediate moments before Clark's final act of an incredible 40-point night served as a microcosm of the Hawkeyes' erratic offensive evening. With time running out and Clark hunting an opening that was hard to locate, this 73-73 affair seemed destined for overtime. Hannah Stuelke, with her back to the basket at the top of the key, dished it over to college basketball's biggest star — who shook free from Michigan State's Moira Joiner for just a second before hitting a stepback to the left and firing away on the 3-point shot. The sweet swish and ensuing roar let everyone know the outcome. "Those are situations we work on at the end of practice every single day," said Clark, who finished 14-for-34 from the field and 8-for-20 from deep. "We ran a play to inbound the ball, got it cleanly. Molly (Davis) did set a clean pick on my girl, but Hannah's defender was up guarding her pretty well. "I think it kind of worked out in my favor because my girl almost went for a steal a little bit, and then I was able to get to my stepback to the left — which is the shot I want to get to." Concern quickly shifted to celebration with Clark's magical heave, but little up to that point had unfolded smoothly for the Hawkeyes (14-1, 3-0 Big Ten Conference). Just as it was last season at the Breslin Center, Tuesday's matchup featured a bunch of scrappy Spartans hunting a monumental upset. A roaring home crowd that easily brushed off an 8 p.m. weekday tip did little to derail Michigan State (11-3, 1-2) when the tense, late energy kicked in. Clark's trey with 2:32 left handed the Hawkeyes a 71-67 advantage and offered Michigan State a chance to bow out admirably. But the Spartans didn't take it. Consecutive buckets brought Michigan State back even, and the same happened after DeeDee Hagemann countered Davis' two free throws on a questionable 3-point shooting foul for a 73-73 tie. https://www.hawkcentral.com/story/spo...