Adam Woodbury gave the Iowa Hawkeyes one last push into the second round of the NCAA tournament.
He discarded a Temple Owl defender to put back Mike Gesell’s airball, but a foul wasn’t called. Iowa advanced in a topsy-turvy overtime thriller on Friday in Brooklyn:
Iowa wins on a GW-push off https://t.co/EJ2oEfqWQ3
— Breaking News GO (@BreakingNews_GO) March 18, 2016
Iowa had led, 63-60, in the final five seconds of regulation, but Anthony Clemmons fouled Temple’s Quenton DeCosey on a three-pointer with 2.1 seconds to go. DeCosey calmly hit all three foul shots to send the game into overtime at 63-apiece. After both teams traded turnovers, transition baskets, and missed foul shots — including a Temple miss on a front end of a 1-and-1 inside the final 20 seconds — Iowa got the last possession, and Woodbury was able to carve out space for the winning putback.
Temple fans have a legitimate gripe, but then again, the Owls could have taken the lead with free throws on an afternoon when both teams left points on the floor.
That’s part of the Madness of March — the calls might go against you, but it’s almost always the case that you could have done something to prevent one missed call from leading to defeat.
Iowa advances, and Temple is doomed.
