The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
No. 1 UCONN vs. No. 5 IOWA
NCAA TOURNAMENT SWEET 16
When: Saturday, 1 p.m. Where: Alamodome, San Antonio Records: UConn 26-1 (21-0, Big East); Iowa 20-9 (14-9, Big 10)
TV: ABC
Radio: UConn Sports Network (97.9 FM-ESPN Hartford, WAVZ 1300 AM, WICC 600 AM, WINE 940 AM, WGCH 1490 AM, WILI 1400 AM)
Streaming: Available via the WatchESPN app (WatchESPN.com)
KEEP AN EYE ON
‘Cool opportunity’: Don’t expect Iowa freshman Caitlin Clark to get too caught up in the UConn mystique.
“Personally, I’m not going to be starstruck,” said Clark, who leads the country in scoring at 26.8 points per game. “Obviously it’s a team you grew up watching, so it’s a cool opportunity more than anything. That’s just what the coaches have been telling us. ‘You have a chance to do something special here.’ And we’re going to believe we win. That’s what we come into every game thinking.”
UConn has made 12 straight appearances in the Elite Eight while Iowa has gotten there four times, most recently in 2019.
Points aplenty: Iowa is second in the nation in scoring (86.6). UConn ranks fourth (82.8).
UConn coach Geno Auriemma said he wouldn’t be surprised if the Huskies needed to hit 90 to win. “Sometimes that’s just the way it is,” he said.
Where’s Nika? Nika Muhl’s status remains a question mark. The freshman guard missed Tuesday’s secondround win over eighth-seeded Syracuse after spraining her right ankle at the start of the tournament. Auriemma, back with the team after isolating for 10 days due to a positive COVID-19 test, didn’t have a concrete update on Muhl during Thursday’s Zoom call with reporters.
“I know she’s way better than she was two days ago, and two days from now she’ll be way better than she is today,” Auriemma said. “I just don’t know where she is (physically) today.”
Muhl, of Croatia, is averaging 5.0 points, 2.7 assists, 2.4 rebounds and 1.8 steals across 22 games, 15 starts.
History lesson: UConn is 4-3 all-time against Iowa, including 4-2 under Auriemma. The teams’ most recent meeting came in the second round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament, an 86-48 Huskies win in Storrs. PROBABLE STARTERS