FRESHMAN PHENOMS
Sweet 16 spotlight turns to UConn’s Bueckers vs. Iowa’s Clark
Several hours before Paige Bueckers and her UConn teammates dusted up Syracuse Tuesday night at the Alamodome (capacity 64,000), Caitlin Clark put on a show in Iowa’s victory over Kentucky at dimly-lit Bill Greehey Arena (capacity 3,800).
Clark made six 3-pointers, some of them from so far beyond the arc that they fit the goof-around style of H-O-R-S-E or an all-star game. She outscored the entire Kentucky team in the first half with 24 of her 35 points as the Hawkeyes advanced through the second round of the NCAA Tournament with an 86-72 victory.
Clark understood what was next. So did Iowa coach Lisa Bluder. Seven miles southeast, after the sun set on San Antonio, UConn had to take care of business against the Orange at the site of the Final Four, but the basketball world knew as soon as Iowa advanced that the Sweet 16 in the River Walk Regional was certain to feature additional appeal.
“I think me and Paige would give you the same answer,” Clark said. “It’s not Caitlin Clark vs. Paige Bueckers. It’s Iowa vs. UConn. … Going up against her would obviously be a great opportunity. A good friend of mine, a tremendous player. But we would both say we’re not going to win it alone.”
An Elite Eight berth will be on the line Saturday or Sunday at the Alamodome. As the stakes get higher in this tournament for teams, their best players are put under bright lights and microscopes. In UConnIowa, there is matchup of two spectacular freshman guards affecting the sport in ways that can’t be asked of a first-year player.
Bueckers, of course, is a national player of the year candidate, leading UConn to a 26-1 record, a top NCAA Tournament seed and, on Tuesday, an 83-47 victory over Syracuse in the Huskies’ latest thumping of an overmatched earlyround opponent. She is averaging 19.9 points, six assists and 4.7 rebounds.
Clark is leading the nation in scoring at 26.7 points a game. She also averages 7.4 assists and 5.9 rebounds. Iowa, seeded fifth, is trying to step onto a higher college basketball plane, and they’re doing so with a clear fire-away approach led by a prolific scorer who grew up in West Des Moines, 150 miles west of its Iowa City campus.
“I knew she was going to be an impact player right away,” Bluder said. “To this extent, probably not.”
Bueckers became one of the most decorated high school players in history at Hopkins High in Minnetonka, Minn., named Gatorade national player of the year as a senior. Along the way, she befriended Clark. They first crossed paths on the AAU trail. They were later teammates at various levels of USA Basketball, winning gold together in Thailand at the 2019 FIBA U-19 World Cup.
They text or chat often. One has followed the other’s freshman season closely. Players of a certain caliber fall into the same basketball and social circles as they rise through the sport. Now they’ll share the court, each of their teams two victories from the Final Four.
“That’s awesome, just for us to be on the big stage,” Bueckers said. “We haven’t really talked about it. I know my mentality is just
one game at a time. So first it was High Point. Next it was Syracuse. Now we can sit and focus on Iowa. It will be a great matchup and I’m excited to play against her.”
The winner plays Michigan or Baylor two days later for a berth in the Final Four.
Bueckers had 20 points Tuesday, 16 in the first half. Syracuse had no answer for Bueckers outside early, and no answer inside for UConn post players late.
Clark was 8-for-11 in the first half of her game. Kentucky was 8-for-37. She’s comfortable from NBA range, fearless in going to the basket.
“I’ve known Caitlin since, like, really young middle school ages and she’s been doing this her whole life,” Bueckers said. “That’s just the high standard she’s been living up to. Obviously, I enjoy watching her play and I’m a really big fan of her game. The stuff she does is pretty amazing.”
The Iowa-Kentucky game was held at St. Mary’s University, in a Division II facility. The lighting isn’t the same as the Alamodome, which was fine with Clark. She said during a Tuesday morning shootaround that Greehey felt like a “shooter’s gym.” It reminded her of her high school gym, in fact. Later in the day she set an Iowa NCAA Tournament scoring record.
“That’s pretty special,” Clark said. “I didn’t know that. It came at a pretty good time.”
Said Bluder: “She’s having fun. But I’m telling you, she’s like that in practice every day. She’s the goofiest kid. She’s probably the loudest kid in the locker room. That’s part of her personality, that joy. So I’m glad to see that she is playing that way. It is a game. It’s supposed to be fun. We don’t have to be serious all the time. Certainly we want focus. But we also want joy.”
Clark was a consensus top-five recruit in the Class of 2020. She was recruited to be the centerpiece of quite the project. She does have some help. Junior center Monika Czinano leads the nation in field goal percentage (67.2), and the Hawkeyes (20-9) average 86.6 points, second in the nation to Maryland’s 91.5.
UConn has reached the Sweet 16 every season a tournament has been held since a 1993 first-round loss to Louisville. That same year, Iowa reached the Final Four for the only time in program history. UConn, an 11-time national champion, has been to the last 12.
The Huskies’ only loss this season was Jan. 28 at Arkansas, largely because Chelsea Dungee went bonkers for 37 points. UConn knows how a high-volume shooter and inexhaustible scorer can wreck a game. Now they’ll look to stop one from disrupting their ride to a regional final.
Clark, Iowa Miss Basketball as a senior at Dowling Catholic, is shooting 47 percent from the field, 41 percent on 3s. She has 11 30-point games. Iowa has a page on its website dedicated to celebration of her accomplishments.
“I’m just so impressed with her mental maturity,” Bluder said. “To come into a situation where you’ve been identified as one of the top freshmen in the country and second-team AllAmerican, she doesn’t let it go to her head. She’s been managing all of that, and that can be a lot to manage. She lives for these kind of experiences. She’s best on a big stage. She has it now and she’s enjoying it and she’s getting better all the time.”