Likes, dislikes from Iowa basketball's NCAA Tournament win vs. Clemson

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TAMPA, Fla. — Iowa men's basketball never trailed in a 67-60 victory over Clemson in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on March 20.

The Hawkeyes earned their first March Madness victory since 2021.

Barring a major upset, Iowa will face defending champion Florida for a berth to the Sweet 16 on March 22.

Here are likes and dislikes from Iowa's win over Clemson.

Likes​

• Supporting cast: Recently, Iowa has looked like a team and not a one-man show. That was the case again against Clemson. Bennett Stirtz did not have his best showing, scoring 16 points on 4-of-17 from the field. But his teammates delivered. Alvaro Folgueiras and Kael Combs were in double-figures scoring. Cooper Koch hit some important free throws. Tate Sage gave Iowa some offense. It was a team effort.
• Defense: The good version of Iowa’s defense showed up against Clemson. The Hawkeyes were swarming, holding the Tigers to just 41% from the field and 35% from deep. Clemson was just 4-of-19 to start the game.
• The free-throw line: The Hawkeyes got to the free-throw line more frequently than the Tigers. Iowa was 21-of-31 from the charity stripe, compared to Clemson’s 8-of-12. Koch and Folgueiras were a combined 12-of-12 from the free-throw line. Dealing with physicality has not always been a strong suit for Iowa this season, but the Hawkeyes dealt with it well against Clemson.
• Rebounding: Speaking of physicality, Iowa outbattled Clemson on the glass. The Hawkeyes held a 40-27 rebounding advantage. That included 15 offensive rebounds, which Iowa turned into 16 second-chance points.
• Second-half response: After Clemson went on a run and cut its deficit to just two, Iowa went on a 9-0 burst to get the lead back to double-digits. It was a great response by the Hawkeyes after things weren’t trending in the right direction. Later in the second half, Clemson trimmed its deficit to five, but Iowa was able to respond again.
• Cam Manyawu: The junior scored only one point but made a profound impact on the game. Manyawu was a monster on the glass, grabbing 10 rebounds.
• Fast start: No slow start for the Hawkeyes against Clemson. The Hawkeyes started the game 6-of-8 from the field and jumped out to an early 18-8 advantage. Iowa, which led by as many as 12 points in the first half, went into the break up by seven.

Dislikes​

• Offensive drought: The Hawkeyes started the game 8-of-15 from the field but then went ice-cold. There was an extended stretch in which Iowa was just 3-of-18 from the field. Overall, it was not a good showing offensively for the Hawkeyes against a stout Clemson defense. Iowa shot 38% from the field and 28% from deep. But their defense was good enough to make up for it.
• Clemson's second-half run: Iowa scored the first three points of the second half, pushing its lead to 10. But the Tigers responded with an 8-0 run to make it a two-point game. Iowa had chances to pull away, but Clemson was able to claw back into the game. In the end, though, Iowa had enough to fend Clemson off.
• Second-half foul trouble: After being called for just three fouls in the first half, Iowa picked up five fouls in less than five minutes of action during the first half. Clemson got in the bonus with 11:05 to go in the second half.
• Cam Manyawu’s free throws: While Manyawu was great on the boards, he struggled from the charity stripe. Manyawu was just 1-of-4 from the free-throw line. Fortunately, it did not come back to bite Iowa.

Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact via email at [email protected]

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Likes, dislikes from Iowa basketball's NCAA Tournament win vs. Clemson

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