BIRMINGHAM, Ala. − The curiosity about whether Iowa’s NCAA Tournament opener would be played in front of a sizable pro-Auburn crowd at Legacy Arena was answered before tip-off.
A thunderous ovation greeted the Tigers when they took the floor, and the orange-and-blue clad patrons made sure the Hawkeyes’ first-round challenge would be that much steeper.
As Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde tweeted early in the game, “Auburn rode the largest home field advantage in No. 9 seed history.”
And with every other half 3-pointer the suddenly hot Tigers made, it proved true. The momentum produced a 17-point second-half advantage and Auburn held on to shut out the eighth-seeded Hawkeyes, 83-75, in a Midwest Region opener.
Iowa ended its season with three straight deflating losses and a 19-14 record. Its last win of the season was on February 28 in Bloomington, Indiana. In other words, the Hawkeyes went 0-for-March.
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Iowa players didn’t use the road crowd as an excuse, but it was undoubtedly a factor.
“It affected us a little bit,” Iowa’s Tony Perkins said. “They got on a little run and their team started feeling better, had a good time and gave more energy.”
Iowa coach Fran McCaffery was asked a stark question: Would this game have been different if it had been played in Des Moines? There were certainly a lot of questions about why a lower-seeded team (even in an 8 vs. 9 matchup) essentially got home-field advantage in the first round … and then in the second round (probably) against top-seeded Houston.
“I think it probably would have been (different). I think that’s a fair statement,” McCaffery said. “But the environments we see (in the Big Ten) were tougher than this most of the time. Not to say this wasn’t impressive in the NCAA Tournament, but that’s what we’re facing in Indiana, in Rutgers, at Maryland, at Michigan, at Michigan State. That’s not an excuse.”
And that extends Iowa’s Sweet 16 drought to 24 seasons, 13 of them under McCaffery. Ninety-five programs have reached the regional final since the Hawkeyes last did in 1999, and that number could grow this weekend.
Auburn (21-12) moved one step closer to its own Sweet 16 bid under former Hawkeye assistant Bruce Pearl. The Tigers’ cold start was replaced by a torrid second-half stretch in which they scored 16 points in less than 2½ minutes to build a 58-41 advantage with 10:50 left.
As it has been known to do, however, Iowa hit a rush, and Kris Murray’s dunk with 4:56 left cut a 17-point lead to four, at 60-56. As Iowa came back, the Auburn crowd grew more and more nervous. After all, the Tigers blew a 17-point lead in the final 11 minutes at Alabama on March 1 and lost in overtime.
“I feel like that was the story of the season,” said Iowa’s Filip Rebraca, who had 14 points and seven rebounds, “where we have good halves and bad halves.”
But Auburn settled in and made its free throws while Iowa went cold with six straight misses from 3-point range with a chance to make the game even closer. Three times Iowa had a 3-point attempt to cut the deficit to three … but all missed.
“We have a good look,” Murray said. “That’s all you can ask for.”
Auburn’s poor 3-point shooting and excellent 3-point shooting defense both showed up in the first half. The Tigers connected on just 1-of-9 from long range, but that one — a left-wing 3 by Wendell Green Jr. – brought the house down and gave Auburn a 21-12 lead.
Meanwhile, Iowa’s 3-point struggles continued away from Carver-Hawkeye Arena in hard-to-believe fashion. The Hawkeyes went 0-for-9 from 3 in the first half, and most of them weren’t close. Murray had a 3 bounce around the rim and out, which epitomized his first half. The junior scored four points in the first 2:17 of the game, but didn’t score again until the 2:30 mark of the second half.
Searching for any answer, McCaffery even inserted true freshman Dasonte Bowen into his first action in March.
Despite Iowa’s problems with the Wilson ball and a stretch where it missed 11 straight field goal attempts, the Hawkeyes’ halftime deficit was a manageable 31-26.
Sophomore Payton Sandfort gave Iowa a boost in the second half. He scored 17 of his team-best 21 points after the break. Murray, a third-team AP All-American, had 15 points, but they came on 5-for-18 shooting.
“That’s what we’ve been doing all year. We fight. We never lost hope in the scrimmage,” Sandfort said. “Obviously they hit some shots they don’t normally make, which was kind of bad.”
Iowa finished 7-for-27 from 3-point range, just 25.9%. Auburn, one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the country, went 7-for-13 from deep in the second half. The crowd was behind the Tigers every step of the way … into the second round.
“Hometown, they came in deep and heavy,” Auburn’s Allen Flanigan said. “They showed up. They were loud and rowdy the whole game. It felt like a home game for us.”
Hawkeyes columnist Chad Leistikow has covered sports for 28 years with The Des Moines Register, USA TODAY and the Iowa City Press-Citizen. Follow @ChadLeistikow on Twitter.