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Paige Bueckers was the focal point of fans' reactions to the viewership numbers the UConn Huskies' game against the UCLA Bruins drew on Friday. The match was expected to be the closer of the two, more so after the South Carolina Gamecocks beat the Texas Longhorns 74-57 in the first game of the night.
This matchup was the fifth-best Final Four on ESPN platforms, peaking at 4.7 million viewers and averaging 4.2 million.
Still, the difference with last night's game against the Caitlin Clark-led Iowa Hawkeyes was considerable. UConn's duel against the Hawkeyes was the most-watched women's college basketball game of all time, with 14.2 million viewers.
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The difference didn't go unnoticed by fans, who flooded the post with comments saying that Paige Bueckers doesn't impact the game as Caitlin Clark does.
"Most people don't watch sports unless you give them a reason to tune in. Caitlin Clark gives people a reason," one fan said.
"Paige doesn’t have that aura in the end that Clark has," another fan said.
"Those denying Clark's impact have an agenda to defend. They don't care about facts," another fan said.
Others took the chance to take a jab at Angel Reese over her comments about impacting the game as Clark, as well as going after Bueckers' fans for saying she was CC before the Iowa Hawkeyes' star.
"Wait….i thought Paige was Clark before Clark was Clark?" one fan said.
"Sure it was because Angel Reese wasn’t playing either 😎," another fan said.
"But didn’t Paige play in both??" another fan questioned.
Dawn Staley compares Paige Bueckers' hype to Caitlin Clark in 2023
Ahead of their Sunday matchup, South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley compared the attention Paige Bueckers is getting to the hype that surrounded Caitlin Clark in the 2023-24 season.
“I can’t not address it because it’s happening again,” Staley said. “It happened to us last year. Everything was about Caitlin Clark, her legacy and her ability to win the National Championship. Yet we were coming into this thing undefeated.”
South Carolina clashed with the Iowa Hawkeyes in the championship game, getting the 87-75 win to finish the season 38-0 (16-0) and ending Clark's remarkable college career on a low note.
Staley and Co. will try to do the same with Bueckers, who is draft-bound after Sunday's game.
