WHO: 3-seed UConn Huskies (32-5 overall, 18-0 Big East)
WHEN: 8:30 PM CT (Friday, April 5)
WHERE: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (Cleveland, Ohio)
TV: ESPN
RADIO: Hawkeye Radio Network
ONLINE: https://www.espn.com/watch/
MOBILE: https://www.espn.com/watch/
FOLLOW: @IowaAwesome | @IowaWBB | @IowaonBTN

In last year's Final Four Iowa had to face the most dominant program of the current era, South Carolina. In this year's Final Four, Iowa is set to face the most successful program of the 21st century, UConn, after just defeating LSU, last year's national champion, in the Elite Eight. The challenges Iowa has faced have been great -- but those massive challenges have also produced some of Iowa's greatest performances.

Friday night's game could feature a personal edge as well. On Monday night after UConn's 80-73 victory over USC to advance to the Final Four, coach Geno Auriemma stated that there was nothing personal between him and Iowa star Caitlin Clark.

Auriemma's comment is understandable. Clark comes from the Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant school of letting grudges push her play to another level. On Monday night, Clark proved that again, earning revenge on LSU with a 41-point, 12-assist performance in which she tied an NCAA Tournament single-game record with nine three-pointers.

The problem for Auriemma, though, is that his comment almost certainly isn't true -- at least not for Clark. The Wright Thompson feature on Clark mentioned that UConn was Clark's dream school in high school, but noted that Auriemma never came to see her play. Auriemma instead focused his attention on Paige Bueckers, and once he landed her commitment, he didn't try to pursue Clark to have them play together.

There is no greater motivator than someone telling you that you aren't good enough. During the recruiting process, Auriemma's actions said that he thought Bueckers was better than Clark and that UConn didn't need her to achieve its goals. Clark has lived with that knowledge for four years now.

Just over a week ago, Auriemma called Bueckers the best player in America in a press conference. He tried to walk that comment back recently, but Clark no doubt heard it. She certainly thought back to the decision Auriemma made on the recruiting trail.

No one doubts that Auriemma thinks Clark is a fantastic player, or that he wouldn't love to have her on his UConn team this season. There's likely a part of him that regrets not trying to have Clark and Bueckers team up.

But for a player with Clark's mentality, that doesn't really matter. She was slighted by him once, and that helped motivate her to become the superstar that she has become now.

Thanks to fate (and the bracket devised by the NCAA selection committee), Clark gets one final opportunity to prove Auriemma wrong. Friday's game will absolutely be personal for Clark. It might be more personal than any other game she has played.

Stats from this preview are from HerHoopStats.

UConn is extremely thin in terms of roster depth, as a result of season-ending injuries suffered by Azzi Fudd and Caroline Ducharme, two of UConn's top players. The Huskies only played seven players in their Elite Eight win over USC, and three of those seven played all 40 minutes.

Paige Bueckers, the Huskies' 6'0" superstar guard, is one of the best players in the country. She's averaged 22.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 3.9 apg, 2.2 spg, and 1.4 bpg this season. Even more impressive than her per-game averages are her shooting efficiencies. Bueckers has shot 59.1% on two-point attempts and 41.6% on three-point tries.

Bueckers won a host of National Player of the Year awards as a freshman, before enduring multiple injuries over the past few seasons that limited her to just 17 games as sophomore and knocked her out for the entire year last season. She's back now and as good as she's ever been.

There aren't any notable weaknesses in Bueckers' game. She's a great shooter, be it from behind the three-point arc, in the mid-range, or around the basket. She's also an excellent defender who can force steals and block shots.

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6'3" forward Aaliyah Edwards will likely be a first round pick in the upcoming WNBA Draft. She's averaged 17.4 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 1.6 spg, and 1.0 bpg this season while making 59.5% of her two-point attempts. Edwards will be another huge test for Hannah Stuelke, though she isn't quite as good on the offensive glass as LSU bigs Angel Reese or Aneesah Morrow.

5'11" guard Nika Muhl is one of the best perimeter defenders in the country. She's averaged 7.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 6.4 apg, and 1.2 spg ths year while shooting 55.3% on two-point tries and 40.3% on three-point attempts. Perhaps Muhl's biggest weakness is that she gets into foul trouble frequently. Muhl fouled out of three games this seaon, and had four fouls in six other games. If she gets into foul trouble against Iowa, that could take away UConn's best defensive option against Clark.

5'10" guard Ashlynn Shade is a future offensive star for UConn. The freshman has averaged 10.9 ppg and 3.5 rpg this year and has shot an impressive 61.3% on two-pointe attempts and 34.9% from long range.

5'9 guard KK Arnold is another freshman that will be very good for UConn in the near future. This year, she's averaged 8.4 ppg, 3.2 rpg, and 3.1 apg. She's made 48.8% of her two-point tries and 32.9% of her three-point attempts.

One item of note: this is one of the few games Iowa has played or will play against a top team nationally where the Hawks won't have to deal with a noticeable size disadvantage. Stuelke is only an inch shorter than Edwards, and Iowa's other four starters are either the same height as UConn's regular starters or an inch taller than their counterparts.

UConn has averaged 71.2 possessions per 40 minutes, which ranks 140th nationally. Given the Huskies' lack of depth and Iowa's strength in transition, they might try to play even slower in this game. Monday showed that Iowa can exploit even great defenses if the game is played at a track meet pace.

On offense, UConn has averaged 79.1 ppg, which ranks 16th nationally. The Huskies have shot extremely well on both two-point attempts (55.6%, 7th) and three-pointers (36.0%, 23rd). UConn has averaged 19.2 assists per game, which ranks 5th. The Huskies also don't turn it over much, as their 12.9 turnovers per game is the 25th best average nationally.

Defensively, UConn has allowed 57.5 ppg, which ranks 27th nationally. Husky opponents have shot poorly on two-point attempts (40.3%) and on three-point tries (28.5%). UConn's defense has forced 9.8 steals per game, which ranks 35th, and blocked 3.9 shots per game, which ranks 67th.

UConn's biggest weakness overall is on the glass. The Huskies only grab 31.2% of available offensive rebounds on average, which ranks 173rd. They fare better defensively, but still only grab 72.6% of defensive rebounds, which ranks 53rd.

Iowa has faced UConn twice previously during the Clark era. The first meeting resulted in a 92-72 Iowa loss in the Sweet Sixteen back in 2021. Last season, Iowa faced UConn in a non-conference game in November 2022 and lost 86-79.

In the Sweet Sixteen game, UConn only played two players that will play on Friday: Bueckers and Edwards. Edwards had a big game with 18 points on 9-of-11 shooting, but had only three rebounds. Bueckers finished with 18 points and 8 assists, and shot 7-of-18 from the field.

For Iowa, Clark had an off night, scoring 21 points on 7-of-21 shooting from the floor. Kate Martin wasn't any better and made just 2-of-9 field goals. Gabbie Marshall had a big game, though, going 4-of-5 from three-point range.

Overall, it's hard to take too much away from that game. It was played three years ago and the personnel was significantly different on both sides. That Iowa team was also filled with freshmen and sophomores who have now become seniors and super-seniors.

Last year's game also saw only two UConn players that will play on Friday: Edwards and Muhl. Edwards had a dominant game, scoring 20 points and grabbing 13 rebounds while shooting 10-of-16 from the floor. Muhl scored just two points, but added 13 assists. She was also the primary defender on Clark.

For Iowa, Clark again had a rough shooting night, going 9-of-24 from the field, while finishing with 25 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds. This was one of the games in which Martin showed her potential as a scorer; she went a perfect 6-for-6 on her three-point attempts. Marshall wasn't quite as successful, going just 2-of-6 from deep. Iowa attempted 36 threes as a team in that game. Sydney Affolter, Hannah Stuelke, and Addison O'Grady also played in the game, but each had a minimal role.

Last year's game highlighted how important the three-pointer will be on Friday night. UConn's defense is built to keep teams out of the paint. That comes at the expense of allowing some open three-point shots, particularly from Iowa's role players. Marshall, Martin, and/or Affolter will get open looks and have huge opportunities to hit open shots on the wings.

That game also showed how important it will be to stop Edwards. The good news for Iowa is that Stuelke is quicker than Monika Czinano and also a better rebounder. She's in a much better position to stick with Edwards instead of playing a few feet off, and has a chance to limit Edwards' rebounding ability.

Finally, it will be interesting to see if Clark breaks her shooting slump against UConn. Muhl did well against her the first time around. Clark will have to shoot better for Iowa to win this game.

UConn advanced to the Final Four with victories over 14-seed Jackson State (86-64), 6-seed Syracuse (72-64), 7-seed Duke (53-45), and 1-seed USC (80-73).

Like LSU in the Elite Eight, UConn's resume is peculiar. The Huskies have 32 wins, but their win over USC on Monday was easily their best of the season. Otherwise, their best wins came against 6-seed Louisville and twice against 7-seed Creighton.

On the other hand, UConn has only five losses and all of them were to great teams; the Huskies lost road games at 3-seed NC State (92-81), 1-seed Texas (80-68), and 1-seed South Carolina (83-65). The Huskies also lost a neutral-site game against 2-seed UCLA (78-67) and a home game against 2-seed Notre Dame (82-67).

UConn laid waste to the Big East, going a perfect 18-0 in the regular season, then winning every Big East Tournament game by 29 or more points. The depth of the Big East wasn'ts strong this season, though -- only two other Big East teams, Creighton and 10-seed Marquette, made the NCAA Tournament.

One byproduct of having an easier conference schedule is that the Huskies haven't faced a lot of great teams in 2024. The only top 5-seeds UConn has faced since January are Notre Dame, South Carolina, and USC. Iowa, meanwhile, has faced Indiana and Ohio State twice each, as well as Colorado and LSU in that same span of time.

Shooting efficiency. Neither team has a clear edge in the rebounding department, and neither team turns the ball over very much. That means that both teams should get a fairly equal number of shot attempts. Whichever team hits their shots -- particularly their three-pointers -- at a better rate will very likely win this game.