For the first time in nearly four decades, Iowa is just a win away from the Final Four.
The Hawkeyes rallied out of an early double-digit hole to knock off Nebraska on Thursday night at the Toyota Center in Houston. Iowa, thanks to a late 14-3 run and a huge defensive blunder from Nebraska, pulled out a 77-71 win to reach the Elite Eight for the first time since 1988. That ended what has been the best season in Nebraska basketball history and stalled the program’s first ever NCAA tournament run.
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In total, Iowa led for just more than two minutes throughout the entire contest.
The Huskers took the lead from the jump. They started the game on a 14-4 burst while shutting Iowa down almost completely in the opening minutes. Nebraska grabbed the first seven rebounds, including all four possible offensive rebounds, and looked simply much more ready to go than Iowa did.
But finally, it was Alvaro Folgueiras who sparked Iowa’s late run. Folgueiras, who hit the game-winner to lift Iowa past Florida in the second round, threw down a dunk through Nebraska big man Rienk Mast to get the game back within single digits.
Bennett Stirtz, who went 0-of-9 from behind the arc against the Gators, then drilled his first 3-pointer two possessions later. While Nebraska’s field goal drought finally ended, Iowa cut the game back to just a single possession at the break after Tate Sage drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
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Sage had 11 points at halftime, after making a trio of 3-pointers, and the Hawkeyes shot 60% from the field. Nebraska, with 11 from Pryce Sandfort, shot 58% from the field in the first 20 minutes. It marked the best combined shooting in a half so far throughout the entire NCAA tournament.
That momentum Iowa picked up just before halftime carried over, too. The Hawkeyes quickly tied the game up by the first media timeout of the second period on a Sage layup, marking the first tie since the game had started.
Iowa hung with Nebraska for more than 10 minutes that way, always catching back up every time the Huskers pulled ahead slightly. Finally, Stirtz gave the Hawkeyes their first lead of the game with just more than two minutes left. Stirtz drilled a heavily-contested 3-pointer from the wing, putting the Hawkeyes up by three. Sage then followed suit after a stop, contributing to a 9-0 Iowa run that spanned more than five minutes. Suddenly, Iowa was up by six.
That sparked the final run and eventually lifted Iowa to the six-point win. The Hawkeyes are now the lowest-seeded Big Ten team to ever reach the Elite Eight round.
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This post will be updated with more information shortly.
