EVERYONE TUNES IN FOR CAITLIN
It didn’t take long for Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes to break their viewing record in the women’s NCAA Tournament.
The Hawkeyes’ 64-54 victory over West Virginia in Monday night’s second-round game averaged 4.90 million viewers on ESPN, according to Nielsen, making it the most-viewed women’s tournament game ever — excluding Final Four contests and title games.
The viewership surpassed the 3.23 million who watched Iowa’s first-round win over Holy Cross on
Saturday on ABC.
Monday night’s game was also the most-watched NCAA Tournament game — men’s or women’s — on cable this year. The previous high was 4.09 million for Houston’s overtime victory over Texas A&M Sunday night on TNT.
It was the fourth Iowa women’s game this season, and first one on cable, where the viewer average was more than 3 million. The others were on Fox, CBS and ABC.
Iowa’s Albany 2 Regional semifinal game against Colorado will be on ABC on Saturday afternoon. It should draw another large audience, especially with both men’s regional finals not tipping off until the evening.
According to ESPN, Sunday and Monday’s second-round games averaged 1.4 million, a 121% increase over last year.
SURGERY FOR REDS’ MCLAIN
Reds second baseman Matt McLain had surgery on his left shoulder and will be sidelined for an extended period.
Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall said the operation took place Tuesday to address cartilage damage and repair the labrum.
The 24-year-old McLain last played in a spring training game on March 17 and was hurt the following day while diving for a ball during a workout. Reds manager David Bell revealed the injury on March 20, the day Cincinnati acquired infielder Santiago Espinal from Toronto.
HALL REACHES NIT SEMIFINALS
Al-Amir Dawes scored 21 points and Seton Hall beat UNLV, 9168, on Wednesday night in South Orange to advance to the NIT semifinals.
Dawes also pulled down six rebounds for the Pirates (23-12). Kadary Richmond added 16 points while finishing 7 of 9 from the floor while he also notched 10 assists and five steals. Dre Davis shot 5 of 12 from the field and went 4 for 4 from the line to finish with 14 points, while adding seven rebounds.
The Rebels (21-13) were led in scoring by Kalib Boone, who finished with 16 points. Justin Webster added 11 points and four assists for UNLV. Rob Whaley Jr. recorded nine points, seven rebounds and two blocks.
Seton Hall took the lead with 19:34 left in the first half and did not relinquish it. Richmond led his team in first-half scoring with 13 points to help put the Hall up, 44-26, at the break.
Dawes scored a team-high 12 points in the second half.