The No. 5 Iowa Hawkeyes put on a clinic on Sunday evening, routing their neighboring rival Drake 113-90 and redeeming themselves after Thursday’s defeat to Kansas State. In doing so, the Hawkeyes quieted any skepticism about whether or not they are ready to live up to the hype.
On multiple fronts, Sunday’s effort was a stark contrast to Thursday’s lethargic performance.
A renewed sense of energy was evident. That burst catapulted their offense to 64 first-half points—the most in program history. Iowa also went from shooting a meager 36 percent against Kansas State to shooting 64.3 percent against Drake. But an even more remarkable turnaround was from the 3-point line, where they went from shooting only 9.5 percent against the Wildcats to shooting 54.2 percent against the Bulldogs—a whopping 44.2 percent increase. Perhaps that biggest difference was that you had multiple players contributing in big ways, meaning Caitlin Clark was not by herself.
Speaking of Clark, she played so much better than she did on Thursday, capturing another double-double with 35 points and 10 assists. She also grabbed six rebounds and hit five 3-pointers. It was the 39th 30-point game of her career, surpassing former Washington Husky Kelsey Plum for the most 30-point games by a player…
