Iowa doesn’t need big game from Clark

Iowa star Caitlin Clark, who recently declared for the WNBA draft, finished with 27 points and 10 assists in the Hawkeyes’ 91-65 win over Holy Cross in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.

But it was an off performance by the unanimous all-American, who shot 8 of 19 from the field and vented her frustration on the court. At one point, TV cameras caught Clark’s dad Brent — among the sellout crowd of almost 15,000 in Iowa City — telling her to stop complaining to the officials.

“I should probably smile more ... but hey, I’m competitive,” said Clark, the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division I basketball.

Iowa will face West Virginia, a 6353 winner over Princeton, in the second round on Monday.

Edwards sparks UConn

Canadian Aaliyah Edwards, wearing a mask after missing two games with a broken nose, finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds in the UConn Huskies’ first-round victory in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, 86-64 over Jackson State in Storrs, Conn. The Huskies, seeded third, have won 30 consecutive first-round games and improved to 13-1 on 70-year-old coach Geno Auriemma’s birthday. They’ll face No. 6 Syracuse on Monday night.

Bulldogs breeze

The Gonzaga Bulldogs rolled past the Kansas Jayhawks 89-68 and advanced to the men’s Sweet 16 for the ninth straight time. Led by Anton Watson’s 21 points, fifth-seeded Gonzaga scored 15 straight points early in the second half to pull away. The Zags are 16-2 since Jan. 18, with the only two losses coming against St. Mary’s, which was knocked out by underdog Grand Canyon on Friday night.

Ref conflict revealed

The NCAA changed referees at halftime of Saturday’s first-round women’s game between Chattanooga and North Carolina State in Raleigh, N.C. because of a background conflict. Tommi Paris was replaced by Angelica Suffren, who had worked the first game at that site. An online profile says Paris received a master’s degree from Chattanooga. The NCAA asks all officials to disclose school affiliations to avoid potential conflicts. In this case, it hadn’t been disclosed before the game.

Brackets busted

It’s another year without a perfect men’s NCAA Tournament bracket. Surprising wins by Yale, Oakland and Duquesne busted many of the more than 22 million brackets entered in the largest contest, ESPN’s Tournament Challenge, and the last three fell late Friday when James Madison beat Wisconsin 7261. In the women’s tournament, before Saturday’s late games, the number of perfect brackets on CBS was down to 6,010, or 1.7 per cent, after eighth-seeded Kansas beat No. 9 Michigan 81-72 in overtime.