The next chapter in duels of great athletes begins on Saturday.
Iowa’s Caitlin Clark leads the country with a score of 26.8 points per game. Connecticut’s Paige Bueckers – a freshman, like Clark – became one of the most recognizable faces in the sport by leading a young team for a 26-1 season.
Despite all the hype surrounding the two players, however, Clark will have a relatively low profile when Iowa No. 5 meets No. 1 Connecticut on Saturday in the round of 16 of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament.
The Hawkeyes feel they have been forgotten and play with a weight on their shoulders. Clark, for example, was not a finalist for the John R. Wooden Award for best player of the year, although she was the first freshman to lead the country in goals since Kelsey Mitchell of Ohio State in 2014-15. She was on the second All-America team.
Bueckers was nominated for the first team. She averages 19.9 points per game, 6 assists, 4.7 rebounds and plays over 35 minutes per game, making comparisons with former Huskies greats like Breanna Stewart, Maya Moore and Diana Taurasi.
Clark sees none of this as contempt. She enjoyed watching the Bueckers grow and said that facing her is a measure for her own game.
“It’s a great competition and that’s what I love, I love playing against the best,” she said. “She is an excellent player.”
Saturday will be the first time that they will play against each other at the university level. It is the beginning of what promises to be a memorable rivalry.
“She plays with a lot of passion and joy and that’s how I am,” said Clark of Bueckers. “I like to see people who love to play basketball so much, that even you can say you love being there.”
The two have a long history on the court. They played against each other in high school at AAU tournaments and were teammates on the USA Basketball under-19 team in 2019.
Clark says he sees Bueckers playing frequently. She probably has a better sensitivity for Bueckers than any other opposing player, and the same is true of Bueckers’ knowledge of Clark.
Both players enter the consecutive Saturday. Clark’s 35-point performance against Kentucky to take the Hawkeyes to their second consecutive round of 16 is tied with Texas A&M’s Jordan Nixon for the highest point total in a single game of the tournament.
Bueckers dominated in a similar fashion, breaking UConn’s record with 24 points in his tournament debut. The Huskies are short of players, with Geno Auriemma, the Hall of Fame coach, out of the first two games because of the Covid-19 protocols and guard Nika Muhl, who was injured in the debut against High Point. Auriemma arrived in Texas on Wednesday.
The young team, coached by Bueckers, responded.
“We played team basketball, we got a lot of assists because of that,” Bueckers told The New York Times in January. “Most of the points I earn come from screens for my teammates, so I give them all the credit because they make it happen. We really face things game by game and don’t let the pressure get to us ”.
Clark emphasized that Saturday’s game is not about Clark against Bueckers, but Iowa against UConn. But as Clark goes, so do the Hawkeyes. She shoots 47.7 percent of the field and 40.9 percent of the 3-point range. She single-handedly defeated Kentucky in the first half, 24-22, on Tuesday, helping the Hawkeyes to drop fourth. The game was not closed early, and that was all Clark.
Like Bueckers, Clark is quick to give in to his teammates, and she has good teammates. Monika Czinano averages 19.4 points per game and Gabbie Marshall shoots 45.7 percent in three.
“We always say that all we need is each other every time we step on the floor,” said Clark.
Inevitably, Clark’s performance against UConn, ranked No. 1 in the country this season, will help determine how she ranks not only against Bueckers, but as a superstar in the game. Part of his legacy will be written on Saturday.
“We’re playing against each other, but it’s still Iowa vs. UConn, ”said Clark. “It will depend on who is the best team, it will not be who is the best, me or her.”