For the second year in a row, the Iowa Hawkeyes won the Big Ten Tournament crushing Ohio State 105-72.
That is the most points Iowa has ever scored against a Big Ten opponent.
That was also the most points scored in the Big Ten championship game.
Caitlin Clark had the first triple double ever in a Big Ten championship scoring 30 with 17 assists and 10 rebounds. Caitlin has 78 assists in ten Big Ten tournament games which is a Big Ten record.
How about Monica Czinano going 11-12 (.917) from the floor which is another Big Ten record.
Gabbie Marshall was 3-3 from deep and had nine points. For the tournament, Gabbie was 13-21 (61%) from three.
Caitlin, Monica and Gabbie were on the all-tournament team and Clark was the MVP.
Talk about an offensive clinic.
The Hawks jumped out to a 26-9 lead at the end of the first quarter shooting 83% (10-12) from the floor, 75% (3-4) from three and 100% (3-3) from the free throw line.
Iowa led 61-24 at half which is the most points Iowa has scored in the first half this season.
Great passing led to 25 assists and a 52-24 advantage on points in the paint.
Sydney Affolter gave Iowa a spark off the bench with 11 points including 7-8 from the charity stripe. For the season, Sydney is shooting 49% from the floor and 85% from the free throw line.
Iowa finished the season 26-6 and have a chance to get a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Iowa 69 Purdue 58
I was a little concerned when I found out the Hawks had to face the Boilermakers in the third round of the Big Ten basketball tournament last Friday.
Then I remembered the games were being played at Minneapolis not Indianapolis.
Actually, it was the Hawkeyes that had the home court advantage, and they were loud.
To me the headlines for that Friday were Caitlin Clark saying for the second time that she is considering coming back for her Covid year.
Earlier that week, Caitlin was on the Dan Patrick show when she told Dan why not come back to a place with big, loud crowds and to play for the best coach in America, Lisa Bluder.
Can you imagine the records she would hold.
The Purdue game was a battle with Iowa taking charge in the 4th quarter as Caitlin scored 12 of her game high 12 points in that period going 4-5 from the floor.
Caitlin broke the junior single season record at Iowa for most 3-pointers made with 98.
Gabby Marshall kept the Hawks in it scoring 11 including 3-5 from three. In the last eight games, Gabbie has hit 17-28 (65%) from three.
Iowa had more fast break points (18-8) and more posts in the paint (28-22).
Iowa 89 Maryland 84
You start out with all five starters scoring in double figures and the Hawkeyes had 24 assists on 31 made baskets.
That is what Lisa Bluder has been coaching since she came to Iowa 23 years ago.
Caitlin had 22, McKenna and Gabbie 21, Monica and Kate 10.
The five in double figures is important since no one scored off the bench.
How about Gabbie Marshall. The 5-9 shooting guard played 39 minutes, was 7-13 from deep with two assists and one steal.
“It feels amazing,” said Gabby. “Especially since I’ve got my confidence back.”
Gabby has made 58% of her threes in her last nine games.
McKenna made some clutch free throws (6-6), and Caitlin was Caitlin.
Hawkeye Men Close Out Regular Season
The Iowa basketball team had a road win at Indiana and a final home loss against Nebraska.
I didn’t see the Hawks winning 90-68 at Indiana.
The same day Iowa was making one of the greatest comebacks against Michigan State, Indiana was at Purdue knocking off the Boilermakers to sweep the series.
Purdue, who was ranked No. 1 earlier, beat the Hawks February 9 at West Lafayette 87-73.
Bobby Hansen, color commentator for Iowa, said his three keys for a Hawkeye victory were to get a strong start, have Kris Murray score early and for the team to hit some outside shots.
They did all three.
The Hawks jumped out to a 12-2 lead with three minutes gone in the game.
Kris hit his first four shots including 3 threes.
Iowa shot 55.6% from the floor, 56.5% from three and 68% from the free throw line.
Kris, in his last three games, was 3-19 from three.
“Kris was on fire, so we went to him,” said coach Fran. “He’s also a threat to drive the ball and get them in foul trouble.”
Against Indiana, the 6-8 junior made 5-8 triples and finished with 26 points for the second straight game.
Tony Perkins has scored in double figures in the last five games, had 23.
The former Indiana prep had 23 points, 10 boards and nine assists.
Payton Sandfort, Mr. Outside and Filip Rebraca, Mr. Inside each had 16.
Nebraska 81 Iowa 77
For the second time in five months the Cornhuskers knocked the Hawkeyes out in their final regular season game.
Last November, the Cornhuskers knocked Iowa out of the Big Ten football title game 24-17 at Kinnick.
Last Sunday they ruined senior day at Carver.
The Hawks had more points off turnovers (21-10), more second chance points (31-11) and more bench points (31-18) but missed six free throws but Nebraska shot 58.5% (31-53) from the floor and 53.8% (14-26) from three.
Patrick McCaffery had 23 points including a career high six threes.
Kris Murray scored 22 but was 3-13 from three.
Iowa could have had a double bye with a win but have to play the winner of the Ohio State-Wisconsin game on Thursday afternoon.
Wrestlers Finish 2nd
Spencer Lee won his third Big Ten championship and Real Woods won his first title.
Spencer was voted Big Ten Wrestler of the Year for the third time and outscored his opponents 45-4 in this year’s tournament.
The Hawks finished second with 134.5 points behind Penn State who had 147.
All ten Iowa wresters advanced to the NCAA tournament.
Another busy weekend with basketball and wrestling taking center stage.
Congratulations to the Iowa women who won their third title in five years.

Gallery • 3 Photos

Brian Ray/hawkeyesports.com • Contributed Photo

Gabbie Marshall cuts a piece of net as she celebrates the Iowa Hawkeyes’ win against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the championship game of the 2023 Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament Sunday, March 5 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.