Iowa vs. Temple: Score and Twitter Reaction from March Madness 2016

Entering the NCAA tournament with six losses in their last eight games, the Iowa Hawkeyes got a miracle 72-70 win over the Temple Owls on Adam Woodbury buzzer-beating layup. 

Things were certainly interesting down the stretch, even before Woodbury heroics. Iowa held a 63-60 lead after Peter Jok missed a free throw. Temple had no timeouts remaining, so it had to push the ball up quickly when Anthony Clemmons fouled Quenton DeCosey on a three-point attempt with 2.1 seconds left. 

DeCosey, who had a game-high 26 points, nailed all three of his attempts to tie the game. Neither team was able to get a shot off in the final seconds of regulation, forcing overtime. 

Clemmons' foul prompted Adam McGinnis to make this response on Twitter:

Both teams started sluggish in overtime, with just one made basket in the first two minutes. The final sequence in overtime started with Temple's Daniel Dingle missing the front end of a one-and-one with 22 seconds remaining. 

Iowa held the ball for the final shot. Mike Gesell's attempt didn't hit the rim, but Woodbury was in the right spot to grab the ball and put it in the basket as the buzzer sounded to give the Hawkeyes a win.

Given Iowa's difficulty stopping opponents, Temple seemed like a perfect opponent to kick off the tournament. The Owls entered Friday ranked 218th in offensive efficiency and 271st in scoring during the regular season, per Sports-Reference.com. 

Iowa didn't dominate on defense, but Temple did make just four of its 18 three-point attempts. The Owls also hurt themselves by not being more aggressive with the ball, attempting just nine free throws in defeat. 

By comparison, Iowa made 17 of its 22 attempts from the charity stripe. 

Not surprisingly, Jarrod Uthoff led Iowa's offense. The senior standout finished with a team-high 23 points. Woodbury and Peter Jok were the only other Hawkeyes players to reach double figures in scoring. 

As good as Uthoff was overall, though, his lack of presence down the stretch is a concern. He had a 10-minute stretch from the end of regulation into overtime in which he didn't score. ESPN's Jeff Borzello noted what Iowa's star needs to start doing more of: 

Uthoff doesn't have to be demonstrative in how he plays, but star players need to take charge for their team in crunch time. His lack of presence down the stretch is one reason why Iowa was forced into overtime against Temple. 

There were plenty of sloppy moments for Iowa, beyond Clemmons' foul, that will have to be fixed if it hopes to play past Sunday. The Hawkeyes missed 12 of their last 14 shots before halftime, but they got away with it because Temple had just four points over the final five minutes. 

They also struggled from three-point range after starting 6-of-9. The Hawkeyes made one of their final 19 attempts from behind the arc down the stretch, which also helped keep Temple alive.

Per Iowa Basketball on Twitter, this win also end the program's two-decade streak in the NCAA tournament:

Even though Iowa will be happy with this victory, its inability to close down the stretch in regulation does not bode well for its long-term tournament prospects. 

Villanova is waiting for the Hawkeyes on Sunday. Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery has a lot of little things to clean up with this team if the Hawkeyes hope to extend their season to the Sweet 16.

Post-Game Reaction

Per Borzello, McCaffery described the final sequence of the game and how it differed from what was originally called:

If the play hadn't ended as well as it did, McCaffery's response would have been fun. Fortunately for the Hawkeyes, we will never know what that might be. 

Woodbury shared his perspective on how that final play went and what his mindset was, via Reuben Frank of Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia:

On the contrary, McCaffery was very pleased with the fight his team showed against adversity in this game, via Iowa Basketball:

From the thrill of victory to the heartbreak of defeat, Temple coach Fran Dunphy didn't elaborate much on how the game ended, via Jeff Skversky of WPVI-TV in Philadelphia:

Check out Bleacher Report's live updating bracket to track your picks along the road to the Final Four.