No. 10 Iowa 84, Michigan State 81: Winning a Hot Mess

Sometimes a game goes completely off the rails. Unanticipated events occur and the game doesn’t play out like everyone expected. Then for good measure something controversial happens at the end. Fans debate it in real time. Coaches have to rally their teams despite what they think of the controversy. The players have to play on and try to get the win anyway.

This was one of those games.

In the first quarter, Iowa wasn’t crisp on either end. The Hawks had a few careless turnovers. They didn’t crash the boards hard. Offensively, their sets lacked good movement or solid screens. But Iowa still led 18-13 after the first quarter thanks mostly to Michigan State’s poor shooting. Iowa did a decent job of forcing the Spartans into jumpers, and they were just 4/17 from the field in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, it was Iowa’s turn to shoot poorly. The Hawks shot 35.7% for the quarter and just 14% from three. Despite that, Iowa held the advantage for most of the quarter because Michigan State never really got going either. Finally Michigan State made a late run to tie the game at 29. Iowa responded with a basket, but Michigan State hit a half-court shot at the buzzer to take a 32-31 lead to halftime.

The third quarter started about as poorly as possible for Iowa. McKenna Warnock went down with an injury and had to go to the locker room; she was not able to return to the game. Meanwhile, Michigan State started making three-pointers shots at the start of the the quarter, and was able to extend its lead to 39-33. Iowa responded by making three consecutive three-pointers to regain the lead at 42-41.

The rest of the quarter was back and forth. Iowa took a lead several times, and it felt like the Hawkeyes were one or two stops away from seizing control of the game. But each time Michigan State had an answer. The Spartans went on a late run and led 58-54 heading to the fourth quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter, Iowa was in the danger zone. Michigan State pushed its lead to 60-54, and Iowa’s offense went cold. Luckily for the Hawkeyes, their defense tightened and they were able to weather the cold steak on offense without the lead growing beyond six. Iowa eventually found its footing again offensively and tied the game at 62.

The two teams battled back and forth, but the game changed with a few minutes left and Iowa leading 66-64. Michigan State passed the ball into the post and managed to get an and-1. More importantly, the Michigan State basket earned a fifth foul on Monika Czinano. Czinano had been Iowa’s best offensive weapon all game, going 11/11 for 22 points. Michigan State hit the free throw and regained the lead. On their next possession, the Spartans pushed the lead to 69-66.

Again Iowa responded. Kate Martin got to the line and hit two free throws to cut the lead to one. Then Iowa got a stop, and Caitlin Clark got fouled away from the basket. Clark hit two free throws to give the lead back to Iowa.

On the other end, Michigan State made one of two at the line, but Martin knocked the rebound out of bounds with the score tied. Michigan State got a good look on a drive, but the shot rimmed out and Iowa cleared the rebound with 32 seconds left.

Iowa held for a late shot and got a good look to Hannah Stuelke, but the ball was blocked out of bounds. The ensuing inbounds pass was tipped and Michigan State got the ball back with 3.2 seconds left and called timeout. Michigan State also got a good look, but it rimmed out and the game headed to overtime.

Michigan State got the better of play early in overtime and led 74-71. Martin again hit a pair of free throws to cut the MSU lead to one point. Michigan State responded with a 3-pointer, but seconds later Stuelke got an and-1 to again cut the lead down to one again.

Iowa finally got a stop defensively, and Clark added two free throws to give Iowa a 78-77 lead. The teams traded stops before Michigan State made a shot at the rim to take a 79-78 lead with 41 seconds to go. After a timeout, Clark responded with a fadeaway jumper to give Iowa an 80-79 lead with 30 seconds to play.

On the other end, Michigan State forced up a tough shot trying to draw a foul, but no foul was called. Iowa cleared the rebound, and Clark hit two free throws after being fouled. Iowa led 82-79 with 17 seconds left.

Michigan State tried to set up a three from its best three-point shooter on its next possession, but the play never materialized. The Spartans eventually heaved up a shot from Clark territory, but it was an airball that went out of bounds to Iowa.

The game for all intents and purposes was over. All Iowa needed to do was get the ball in, and it would come out of East Lansing with a victory.

The only problem for Iowa was that controversy I mentioned in the first sentence hadn’t actually happened yet.

As Iowa set up to inbound the ball in its own half, Clark raised her arm into the air and made contact with a Michigan State player’s face. The MSU player fell back, and the referees stopped play to review the situation. After a lengthy review, Clark was whistled for an intentional foul that gave Michigan State two free throws and the ball. The Spartans hit both foul shots, and suddenly had the ball down one with five seconds left.

Thankfully for Iowa, Michigan State didn’t convert. The Spartans attacked the basket after getting the ball in, but the MSU player dribbled herself into trouble and traveled before she could get out of it.

Iowa struggled to get the ball into play, but were bailed out by a foul call. Molly Davis hit two clutch free throws, and Michigan State missed its half court heave. Iowa escaped with an 84-81 overtime victory.

Clark led Iowa with 26 points, 11 assists, and 9 rebounds. She only shot 6/19 from the floor, though, and was just 2/10 from three-point range. Michigan State did a great job preventing Clark from getting the ball for much of the game or challenging her at every level when she did get it.

Czinano was great offensively, scoring 22 points and grabbing 7 rebounds. Even more impressive, she was a perfect 11-11 from the floor, setting a new Iowa single-game record. But Czinano only played 22 minutes in the games due to foul trouble. Clark and Czinano were the only Hawkeyes in double figures. A box score for the game is here.

During and right after the game there was significant discussion about the late intentional foul call on Clark. After thinking for a bit, I frankly don’t know whether the call was correct.

My view of the replay was that Clark clearly meant to swing her hand into the air, but also clearly didn’t know someone was there. As soon as she made contact, her face reacted with shock. I don’t think that’s something you can fake. Nor do I think Clark is dumb enough to take a cheap shot in that situation.

Regardless of intent, the contact was hard. It was certainly close enough that an intentional foul could have been called. Then again, there are plenty of games that have inadvertent contact that isn’t called after a review.

Overall, I think my takeaway is that Clark just can’t put herself in a position where a call like that is possible. All Iowa had to do was get the ball in and the game was over. Even if Iowa turned the ball over somehow, Michigan State would’ve had to make a three with less than five seconds to find a shot. The intentional foul was basically the only thing that gave Michigan State another chance at the win.

I was worried all week that Iowa wouldn’t show up focused for this game with the Ohio State game on Monday. Iowa did have a lot of turnovers (20), and it gave up plenty of offensive rebounds (11), but I wouldn’t say focus was Iowa’s big issue. Michigan State deserves credit for forcing turnovers and for crashing the offensive glass.

Instead, many of Iowa’s issues were just bad luck. Warnock went down in the third quarter and never returned. Iowa relies on her shooting offensively, and it was missing for a large chunk of the game.

Clark had one of her worst shooting games of the season, but most of her shots weren’t bad ones. They just didn’t go in. And while Warnock was out and Clark was struggling, Czinano was on the bench for extended periods with foul trouble. It was a perfect storm to limit Iowa’s scoring.

And to make matters worse, Michigan State hit some big shots in the second half. Every time Iowa got a small lead or tied the game up, Michigan State seemed to find the answer on the other end to regain momentum.

The players and coaches deserve a ton of credit for finding a way to win despite everything that happened. Last year, I don’t think Iowa would’ve won that game. Heck, earlier in the year, Iowa played a very similar game at Kansas State and couldn’t get the victory on the road. Today the Hawkeyes did, and they kept their conference championship hopes alive in the process.

Iowa returns to action on Monday, January 23 at 6 PM CT on the road at #2 Ohio State. The Buckeyes are 18-0 overall and 7-0 in the Big Ten. The game will be televised on ESPN2.