Iowa Gets Crushed by Villanova After Beating Temple

The Iowa Hawkeyes basketball season came to an end on Sunday in the Round of 32.  The first game was against Fran Dunphy's Temple Owls in a good old-fashioned Fran-off.  Iowa got a seven seed and Temple got a ten seed.  Iowa led almost the whole game, but made it interesting down the strech like they always do.  With under ten seconds left, Peter Jok came to the line up two with a one-and-one.  This was the case ten years before, as three seeded Iowa came in after winning the Big Ten Tournament played against 14 seeded and Southland winner Nortwestern State Demons.  Iowa led the whole game and got up double digits with five minutes to go, but it was a two point game with 14.6 seconds to go.  Senior forward Greg Brunner had a one-and-one up two, and missed the front end.  The Demons drained a lucky three from the corner with .06 seconds left, and won and made me cry all the way up to Minneapolis after listening to Gary Dolphin's call.
I remembered that, and I thought Iowa was going to blow it the Iowa Basketball way.  But, Jok hit the front end, and missed the second.  Then, Anthony Clemmons fouled the three point shooter, which hit all three, and we went to overtime.  Iowa got the last possession, tied up at 70.  For some reason, Mike Gesell decided that he was going to take the final shot on a ridiculously tough shot, and air balled it. But, Adam Woodbury put it up and in at the buzzer for the put back and the overtime victory.  He got so much hate for no reason for four years, and it was great he won the game.
The next challenge was two seeded Villanova, who had not made it to the Sweet Sixteen since 2009, even after receiving numerous top two seedings.  Iowa got down big early, and were down 54-29 after a red hot Villanova team played lock down defense, and they eventually got the win 87-68, which happens to be the score of the Gonzaga-Iowa Round of 32 game between a two and seven seed. Villanova is off to the Final Four and looks hard to beat, while Iowa's season ended.
The biggest story is the end of the careers to the senior class that turned the program around.  Woodbury, Gesell, Clemmons, Jarrod Uthoff, and Okey Utah.  Utah didn't play really at all, but the class came into a program that was awful, and got two tournament wins and three tournament appearances, along with a loss in the NIT Final.  Woody and Gesell had offers from places like North Carolina and Stanford, but chose to stay close to home and go to Iowa.  Uthoff was also a four star recruit who averaged 18.9 points per game this season and is a Wooden Award finalist, who transferred from Wisconsin after a big fight with Bo Ryan about telling him where and where he can't go.
This is a class that will always be remembered, and paves the way for future success, starting with a team next year that will only have three upperclassmen as of now that will compete for playing time. But, Jok might go pro. But, this includes a class with three in-state recruits, and perhaps the biggest get for Fran McCaffery since he got to Iowa, in Top 100 player Tyler Cook out of St. Louis.  It will be an interesting year with a very young team, and they will look to continue the success the program has had of late.    
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