Bueckers, Clark: It’s Not Bueckers vs. Clark

The Story: While UConn’s Paige Bueckers and Iowa’s Caitlin Clark emphasized that their highly anticipated Final Four clash tonight is a team affair, their star power and individual brilliance have elevated the matchup to a potentially landmark moment for women’s basketball (9:20 p.m., ESPN).

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: UConn (33-5) and Iowa (33-4) have been on a collision course all season, and the two best players in the game will go head-to-head again tonight with an appearance in Sunday’s national championship game on the line.

• Bueckers enters tonight’s game averaging 22 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game while shooting 54 percent, including 40.5 percent from 3-point range. Clark, named the Associated Press Player of the Year yesterday, is averaging 32 points, nine assists and 7.3 rebounds per game and shooting 46 percent, including 38 percent from 3-point range. But we’ve already spelled out who the more valuable player actually is.

IT’S NOT ABOUT THEM: That’s at least what Bueckers and Clark each said yesterday. But that’s only partially true. They’re the reason why a massive audience is expected for tonight’s game.

• Bueckers: “I think media coverage is important for the game. I think it grows the game. … But I think it’s more important for the game to share the spotlight to grow the game and show all the stars of college basketball and not just focus on one particular player, whether it be me, Caitlin, JuJu [Watkins at USC], Angel [Reese at LSU]. There’s so many names in college basketball now that are huge, that are stars that deserve credit.”

• Clark: “It’s not Paige versus Caitlin, and it takes the entire team to win a basketball game. Both of us are going to do everything we can.”

WHAT DID GENO AURIEMMA SAY? Well, he said a ton. Here are just two of his thoughts on the matchup:

• “They have two different types of games. I think when your team wins and wins a lot, I think you draw a lot of attention to yourself. When people say, “Who’s the best player?” Well, who’s the best team? It happens in the pros, right? “Who is the best player in the country?” “Who is the most valuable player in America?” Well, let’s go look at the best team and pick their best player. That’s usually a pretty good guess.”

“Kids are competitive. They want to win. They know what’s going on out there. They know who’s who. They know what’s what. And [if] Caitlin comes down and makes a huge 3, don’t think that Paige is going to pass the next one up and pass it to somebody. So, I think there will be a little bit of that. But it won’t be, ‘If I score more points than Caitlin, Connecticut’s going to win.’ It won’t be that at all. And it won’t be, ‘I have to match everything that she does.’ … Paige’s personality is such that she would rather score 10 points and us win than get 50 and us lose. So I think it’s going to be about winning the game more than anything else.”

A LEGENDARY COMPARISON: Geno also drew comparisons between Bueckers versus Clark to the showdowns between Magic Johnson and Larry Bird in the 1970s and once they reached the NBA in the 1980s:

• “Magic and Bird, TV all of a sudden started paying more attention. People don’t realize that when all those teams were winning all those games back then, there wasn’t a lot of attention placed on them then. Final Fours in the men’s side were being played in 18,000-seat arenas. And I’m not sure they completely sold out. Then all of a sudden, those two particular players came on and it just lit everything up, and it just took off from there. So, it needs some stars. It needs people that have the right personality, the right game. And we have that now.”

ABOUT IOWA: You know the Hawkeyes, last year’s runner-up to LSU, are led by Clark. But their well-rounded cast includes 6-foot-2 sophomore center Hannah Stuelke, sixth-year senior guard Kate Martin, and fifth-year senior Gabbie Marshall.

• Stuelke is second to Clark with 13.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game and Martin is averaging 13.1 points and 6.8 rebounds a game. Molly Davis, who shared the backcourt for much of the season, is likely out with a knee injury and has been replaced in the starting lineup during the tournament run by Sydney Affolter.

• Iowa, like UConn, wants to get the ball and push it up the court as fast as possible. That occasionally ends in Clark chucking up a shot from well behind the 3-point line, and unlike with anyone else, there’s a decent chance it will go in.

• The Hawkeyes lead Division I with 91.9 points per game, 21.2 assists per game (UConn is fourth with 19.6) and 11.1 made 3-pointers per game, and they’re second with a 49.9 field goal percentage. But they’re also not a strong defensive team, as opponents are scoring 71.5 points per game (good for 314th out of 349 Division I teams) and making 30.5 percent of their 3-point attempts.

OUR TAKE: For as much as we were looking forward to UConn and USC on Monday, this one takes the cake. It’s the Huskies’ 23rd Final Four appearance, and there would be no better way for Aaliyah Edwards (who joined Bueckers on the WBCA All-America first team yesterday) and Nika Muhl to end their underrated time in Storrs with a national championship on Sunday against South Carolina or N.C. State. But it’s also a chance to see Bueckers and Clark match up when they’re at their best, considering the two were freshmen for UConn’s Sweet 16 win in 2021 and Bueckers was hurt and missed last year’s early season matchup. We’re concerned about Iowa running nonstop against UConn, which will inevitably wear down, and Clark making nine 3-pointers like she did in the Elite Eight against LSU. But as Geno said last week, it’s a miracle the Huskies even reached the Sweet 16, let alone the Final Four. It almost feels like they’re playing with house money. That doesn’t mean we’re content with them reaching this stage. Everyone wants a national championship. Will they get to the title game? Will they win it? We’ve seen stranger things happen when it comes to UConn’s basketball success. We’re ready to enjoy the ride.

— Zac Boyer

No More Talking. Time to Play

The Story: Reigning NCAA champion UConn arrived in Arizona at about 3:30 a.m. local time yesterday, but we’re sure that Alabama won’t be sleeping on the champs ahead of their Final Four matchup tomorrow night (8:49 p.m., TBS).

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: UConn enters the national semifinals as one of the biggest favorites in recent memory. The Huskies are huge 11.5-point favorites against the Crimson Tide and are -800 on the money line.

• Who said defense wins championships? Offense is king in the Final Four as the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 ranked offenses are making an appearance.

• The Huskies (35-3) have the No. 1-rated offense, according to KenPom’s offensive rating. They also have the No. 4-ranked defense courtesy of Donovan Clingan‘s domination over the last month.

• Purdue, who has the most dominant player in the nation in center Zach Edey, is second. No. 3? That’s UConn’s opponent, the high-scoring Crimson Tide, a No. 4 seed out of the West Region.

ROLL TIDE: The first thing to know about Alabama is that it likes to play fast and score. It has had one of the top offenses all season and is first in the nation at a robust 90.6 points per game.

• The Tide are led by NBA prospect Mark Sears, who is averaging 21.5 points per game, and three other starters average in double figures in Aaron Estrada (13.4 points per game), Grant Nelson (11.7 ppg) and Rylan Griffen (11.3 ppg.)

• The Huskies have been able to take their opponents’ top scorers out of the game throughout the NCAA Tournament, holding Northwestern’s Boo Buie, San Diego State’s Jaedon LeDee and Illinois’ Terrence Shannon Jr. to inefficient, subpar performances. That will be more difficult against Alabama, which has multiple shooters and scorers.

• The only game the Huskies have lost since New Year’s Day was at Creighton, when the Bluejays hit 14 3-pointers to stun the Huskies. Alabama is an excellent, high-volume 3-point shooting team and will look to take Clingan away from the basket as all of its bigs are threats from the outside.

• Alabama likes to run the floor and take quick shots. Its average length of possession is 14.3 seconds. The Tide are going to shoot the first open shot available and try to get the Huskies into an up-and-down pace.

ADVANTAGE ON D: Two of the best offenses will be on the floor, but only UConn’s defense can be considered good. Alabama has played better defense in the tournament but still ranks 105th in defense as it’s giving up 102 points per 100 possessions.

• For comparison, UConn holds teams to 90.1 points per 100 possessions and has been even stingier in the four NCAA Tournament games at a shade over 80 points per 100.

HISTORIC DOMINATION: If the tournament ended today, the Huskies would have finished with the second-largest margin of victory per game. They’re beating teams by an average of 27.5 points. UConn has had 30-point leads in every game of the NCAA Tournament, and coming off last year’s domination, when it won all its games by 13 points or more, UConn has 10 straight double-digit wins. In fact, UConn is 30-1 over the last year against nonconference opponents.

WHAT DID DAN HURLEY SAY? “This tournament is the hardest thing to do. I mean, you could see it. The programs, the best resources, biggest brands, have a hard time getting here because of the changes in the game recently. We’ve made an incredibly hard tournament to advance in look easy. Probably a lot easier than it really is.”

OUR TAKE: UConn is the favorite and the best team. There’s no use arguing that. Alabama is more than capable of hanging with the Huskies if it gets hot from 3-point range, and that’s the one scenario we fear. The other is Clingan getting into foul trouble and compromising the defense.

• As far as the rest of the team? We don’t know who is going to have a big game. Tristen Newton, Cam Spencer, Stephon Castle and Alex Karaban each have had great games and quiet games in the NCAA Tournament. If all four are on their game, UConn can’t be beaten, but even with one or two struggling, there’s enough firepower to pull through. The one thing the Huskies can’t replicate is Clingan’s defense, and as long as he’s playing important minutes, we have confidence the Huskies will roll on the Tide and head into the title game on Monday night.

— John Silver

Morning Reads

• A budding rivalry will be renewed this weekend as the baseball team (10-15) opens Big East play with a three-game home series against Xavier, its opponent in the last three Big East title games.

• The softball team (19-16, 7-2 Big East) will be in Queens this weekend for a three-game series against St. John’s that begins this afternoon.

Top photo: Paige Bueckers celebrates during the Huskies’ Big East title game win over Georgetown at Mohegan Sun Arena. (Courtesy of UConn athletics)