TAMPA, Fla. – Alvaro Folgueiras has played in front of his mother, Beatriz, twice throughout his three years of college. Once was during his time at Robert Morris. The next time was his second NCAA Tournament, this time with an Iowa squad searching for its first win in the Big Dance in five years.
Beatriz and her partner, Mike, flew into Tampa today from Spain to watch the junior forward compete on the biggest stage of college basketball. Folgueiras’ girlfriend, Stephanie, is a student at John Hopkins University and came from Baltimore, Maryland, to support her boyfriend. A few friends also made the trip.
There aren’t many moments where Folgueiras plays in front of his people. But he loves it whenever it happens. It gave him a boost, then he gave the team a boost in Friday’s 67-61 win over Clemson in the round of 64. The forward finished with 14 points, four rebounds, and a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line.
“Family is everything to me,” he said. “It gave me extra motivation when I saw [Beatriz].”
It was nearly a month ago when Folgueiras’ brother, Nacho, watched his younger sibling put up his best performance of the season with 20 points in a win against Ohio State on Feb. 25. At that point, Iowa was 12-1 when the Spaniard scores in double figures. That was the last time he did so before Friday.
He did add context to the one loss stuck in there. He had 11 points in the loss to Wisconsin three days prior to the Ohio State game, scoring his double-digit-sealing bucket in the final seconds off an offensive rebound.
“If it wasn’t for that, it’d be 13-0,” he said.
Folgueiras’ impact in the first half was minimal scoring-wise. He had a mere three points on 1-of-5 shooting, though he showed up on the glass with three rebounds. But when Iowa came out of halftime flat-footed, he provided a spark.
The first 6:10 of the second half featured just two buckets from the Hawkeyes, both being Stirtz three-pointers. Sandwiched in between the makes was eight-straight misses. Then, from 12:50 to 8:39, Folgueiras and freshman guard Tate Sage went on a combined 13-4 run to push Iowa’s three-point lead up to 14 by the end of it.
“They stepped up huge,” Manyawu said of Folgueiras and Sage. “This is a big moment, so to be able to go out there and take charge and get us back going because our offense got stagnant out there for a bit. But they brought it back to life.”
In that stretch was three Folgueiras free throws. His last four foul shots came within the last 2:15 of the game, when he replaced a struggling Manyawu, whom Clemson was intentionally fouling while in the double bonus to put him at the line.
“I work too much to not be secure and safe in shooting those free throws at the end of the game,” Folgueiras said. “I don’t think too much.”
The Spaniard’s impact went beyond the stat sheet. A hustle rebound that forced a Clemson player to fumble the ball out of bounds. The Tigers forced to play out defensive possessions due to his ability to knock down free throws. His mobility on defense to switch onto quicker guards and hold his own.
Ben McCollum gave praise to his big man while keeping things in perspective.
“He did good,” the Iowa head coach said. “He made some mistakes, and he did some good things. I thought he did a little bit of both tonight. Made free throws down the stretch… He did a good job.”
Folgueiras’ 7-of-7 foul shooting marked a season-high in makes and attempts. Maybe it was him taking advantage of Clemson’s aggressive approach on defense. Maybe he was simply beating his defenders consistently to where he drew fouls as a result. Or maybe it was the unconscious thought of his people being present.
Will Folgueiras’ people stick around for Sunday’s game against Florida?
“Yeah, I hope so,” he said.