March Madness: The 5 plays that decided Iowa-UConn, including the foul no one was happy about – MASHAHER

Iowa is headed to the national championship game, and it needed a wild ending to get there.

The Hawkeyes’ Final Four clash with UConn featured two All-Americans, other role players coming up huge, a 12-point comeback, clutch shot, some questionable decisions and that one questionable call in a 71-69 Iowa win.

There were plenty of big plays in this game. The call on Aaliyah Edwards with fewer than 10 seconds remaining was one of them and arguably the most consequential, but let’s go through five of the ones that helped decide the game.

Of course, we will start with the call.

Foul or not on Aaliyah Edwards?

We’ll get into how Iowa held the lead but UConn had the ball with 9.8 seconds left in the game, but the ramifications of that situation were clear. The Huskies had the ball with a chance to play for their first title in eight years on the line, and also the chance to end Caitlin Clark’s career.

Nika Muhl got the ball and moved toward the baseline, while Paige Bueckers came around on the perimeter behind her. The critical part of the play, a crack back, appeared to be a screen set by Edwards on Iowa’s top defender Gabbie Marshall to force a switch with Hannah Stuelke.

Unfortunately, the refs decided Edwards’ screen featured a little too much lateral movement. Edwards got called for the offensive foul, and the Hawkeyes got the ball back with 3.9 seconds remaining.

The call wasn’t popular, to say the least. A quick sampling of the people watching, including Diana Taurasi and LeBron James:

There were, of course, some people who thought the refs had a point, but a call like that being the final blow for a Final Four team is always going to be controversial.

Caitlin Clark wakes up with 4-point play

It was a rough first half for Clark, whose brilliance has made her a national name like few other players in her sport. The two-time Naismith Award winner was 3-for-11 from the field and 0-for-6 from deep for only six points in the first half.

Mühl, a two-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year, was a very large part of that. For most of the game, the Huskies sicced their defensive standout on Clark and refused to let her be comfortable at any spot of the floor.

It was a good plan, but Iowa started adjusting, sometimes by taking the ball out of Clark’s hands and sometimes by going out of its way to generate an open look. The latter paid off big in the third quarter as the Hawkeyes were chipping away at UConn’s lead.

Watch Mühl follow Clark on this play, until Gabby Marshall forces a switch and Hannah Stuelke gets the ball to Clark with just enough time to make a 3-pointer — Clark’s second of the game — and draw a foul.

There was another play in which Iowa used a double screen to get her open for another 3-pointer. UConn’s defense made Iowa look as uncomfortable as they have all tournament, but you can only keep Clark down for so long.

UConn gets back in the game

Iowa kept pushing until it was up by nine points in the fourth quarter, but a UConn mini-run got them back into the game with a minute left.

Still down four points, the Huskies needed something big. They got with some defensive pressure on Stuelke at the halfcourt, poking the ball into the backcourt. Kate Martin tried to push the ball back to Clark, but Mühl came away with the pass and, a few seconds later, made a 3-point to cut the lead to one with 39.3 seconds remaining.

With nine points, five rebounds, seven assists, three steals and a full night of guarding Clark, Mühl was UConn’s MVP for the night.

Caitlin Clark passes the ball with a chance to win it

This is the play everyone would be talking about had UConn won it.

There is no person in the country you would rather have with the ball and a chance to put a Final Four opponent away than Clark. Iowa gave her the ball and let her dribble it out until there were fewer than 20 seconds remaining.

Edwards was waiting for her in addition to Mühl at her side, so Clark did the thing few people were expecting and passed the ball to Stuelke in the paint. Bueckers rotated onto Stuelke, which left only KK Arnold to cover both Martin and Sydney Affolter at the perimeter.

Stuelke picked Affolter, but Arnold read the pass, deflected it and saved it.

It’s also probably worth noting in Clark’s defense that Stuelke led the Hawkeyes with 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting. She was the closest thing they had to a consistent offensive threat throughout the game and it certainly wasn’t malpractice to pass her the ball.

That said, UConn definitely wanted to make Clark pass the ball and got it. It was great defense by UConn and could have been the set-up for a classic play. Then the refs made their presence known.

Caitlin Clarks burns a second with just her IQ

This might be the smallest of all these plays, but it is undeniably neat.

Iowa took the ball back with just under four seconds remaining and got it to Clark, who was immediately fouled. She made the first free throw to go up two points, then missed the second. Fortunately, Affolter got the rebound and the Hawkeyes had the possession arrow when the play resulted in a jump ball.

Clark had to inbound the ball with 1.1 second left. She had Bueckers in front of her, but not facing her, so she did something very clever. She passed the ball into Bueckers’ back and let it go out of bounds again, burning off an entire second of clock and the Huskies’ final prayer of getting the ball back.

It wasn’t the easiest game for Clark, but she still provided plenty of reason to tune in.