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Message: [QUOTE="JoePgh, post: 4589402, member: 1131"] I looked on YouTube for recent Ohio State games (other than North Carolina) to watch to get a feel for how they played. I found the Big Ten Conference Tournament Final game from a few weeks ago between Iowa and Ohio State. I was mainly interested in watching OSU play against a team that is somewhat similar to UConn. Also, the way the NCAA brackets are shaping up, if UConn gets through the coming weekend by defeating Ohio State and then either Virginia Tech or Tennessee, it seems overwhelmingly likely that UConn's opponent in the National Semifinal game will be Iowa. So the game that I selected gives a look at not one but two likely UConn opponents in the next week and a half. I actually only watched the first half of the game. It reminded me of the first Mississippi State vs. UConn game in Stewie's senior year -- the "piranha on a roast" game that UConn won 98-38 after a first-half score of 61-12. The score at the end of the first half of Iowa - OSU was 61-24 in favor of Iowa, but it looked just as one-sided. OSU scored so infrequently that their press was not a factor -- I only noticed one turnover by Iowa against the press. OSU's half-court defense was incompetent -- as one example, Czinano scored at least four layups on lob passes from Clark over the OSU defense, which insisted on fronting Czinano even after it was clear they had no answer for the lob passes. I would expect Dorka and Aaliyah to have a field day against the OSU defense. Nika can throw lob passes almost as well as Clark. From the perimeter, Clark had over 20 points in the first half, plus 8 assists (as I recall). OSU kept going under screens and leaving her open for the split-second that she needed to launch a 3-point attempt. For most of the half, Clark individually was outscoring OSU. The announcers made an interesting claim about Clark, quoting almost exactly: "Women's college basketball has never seen a player like Caitlin Clark. She scores like Taurasi and sees the floor as well as Sue Bird." UConn fans will quibble with that comparison, but based on this one game, it is plausible. I now expect a blowout in UConn's favor on Saturday. I think UConn will also get a narrower victory in the Elite Eight over whichever team they play, and then will face Iowa. Based on the way Iowa played in this game, that will be an extraordinary challenge. [/QUOTE]

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