Iowa deals with the bizarre edge issue ahead of a terrifying March Madness performance
Perhaps Iowa State can actually blame its 41-point performance in the NCAA Tournament, shooting just 23% from the field, on rims.
National Collegiate Athletic Association A statement was issued During the Cyclones’ opening round game against Pittsburgh that revealed Iowa asked Greensboro Coliseum building staff to look past the basket and “check if the rim was level”—resulting in what the NCAA described as a “slight tweak”.
“We offered them additional time to warm up, but they refused,” the NCAA statement continued.
Then, the Cyclones proceeded to shoot 29% at that basket in the first half — although senior tackle Tre King tried to downplay the impact post-game.
It was definitely not a factor, King to reporters. “One thing we always talked about was how adversity always comes and, you know, how do we deal with it. That was just one of those things that weren’t for us in the beginning and we knew that, we didn’t care about it and we just knew we had to go out and play harder.”
according to A tweet clip from the Colosseumthe Pittsburgh players seemed to warm up as usual while placing a ladder under the Iowa State basket.
But the Hurricanes actually shot even worse in the second half at the other end of the field, making just 5 of their 29 field goal attempts over the final 20 minutes.
Iowa didn’t have one of the biggest offenses in the country this season, but it still averaged 67.6 points per game during the regular season — just under 40% from the field four times, and it never dropped below 30%.
Against the Panthers, however, Iowa didn’t connect on the first basket until 9:55 and remained in the first half, when Jarren Holmes connected on a layup.
The Hurricanes closed their deficit to seven points at the end of the first half, but then managed just 18 points in total for the rest of the game.
Overall, Iowa shot 23% from the field, went 2-for-21 on 3-pointers and finished with the second fewest points in program history in an NCAA tournament game, According to the Official Gazette.
When asked about the impact of the pregame stoppage—and the tip adjustment—on his team, Iowa State coach TJ Utzelberger said, “I don’t know.”
“I can’t speak for our guys,” said Otzelberger. “I wasn’t sure what happened. By the time I got out, they were checking it out, so obviously there was a delay.
“So I’d like to think our guys have enough mental toughness. We’ve been through a lot of big games and a lot of tough environments that wouldn’t affect us, but I can’t talk about that exactly and how that affected them mentally.”
Pittsburgh, no. 11 seed, advanced to face no. 3rd seed Xavier in the round of 32 on Sunday.
