Friday, March 17, 2006
Hawks go down in a heartbreaker
They still should have won it. Iowa sent Greg Brunner to the line with a 1 point lead and 14 seconds left in the game. He made the first but clanked the second, putting Iowa up 62-60. State brought it up and took it to the hole, but missed. A frantic scramble for the rebound ensued, the ball was kicked to the corner, where one of those purple guys rained in a three as time expired for the 63-62 win. Reminiscent of a similar defeat at the hands of Toledo in 1979, or the loss to Idaho in 1982 on a shot that bounced three times on the iron before falling through.
It is the biggest upset so far in the tournament, with the 3 seeded Hawks falling to a 14.
Sick to my stomach, but such is life in March. Might start the Jameson's a little early.
5 Comments:
By 
SportsProf, at
Fri Mar 17, 03:13:00 PM:
That was a tough loss. The silver lining for Iowa fans is that Indiana probably has no choice but to "steal" Steve Alford away from Iowa and make him head coach at his alma mater. That occurrence would give Iowa quite an opportunity.
I've frequently thought that with Alford the Hawkeyes would get stuck in a zone where they'd rate no higher than #15 in the country in a good year and then have to tough it out in the midst of the Big Ten for an at-large bid some of the time but not all of the time. That's probably not acceptable to Hawkeye fans, who probably still get misty-eyed when thinking of the wonders that Lute Olson worked there about a quarter-century ago.
So, if Alford goes, your favorite school can look to upgrade. Perhaps they'd have to look no further than Northern Iowa, where Greg McDermott has done wonders. If he could be this year's Bruce Pearl, then Iowa fans have an exciting future to look forward to.
And if you think your school has it bad in Iowa, it's much worse in Ames, where a) Iowa State just fired Wayne Morgan and b) there might be a scandal about paying for players.
Yikes!
By 
, at
Fri Mar 17, 06:04:00 PM:
Sorry Tigerhawk, that was a tough loss. I am a UW Husky myself and know how frustrating an early loss can be. the DaWgs lost as a #1 seed last year earlier than I would have thought. Stay strong and keep up the great content & commentary, you are the best!!
By Gateway Pundit, at
Fri Mar 17, 09:31:00 PM:
It was a rough afternoon. I'm still shaking it off. How do you lose a lead like that?
By Chris, at
Sat Mar 18, 11:24:00 AM:
Must contain shadenfreude.......must not emit hysterical laughter.......Illinois fans do not carry grudges for decades.......
By Chris, at
Sun Mar 19, 06:33:00 AM:
