By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

The chair took the brunt of Caitlin Clark’s frustration.

Clark had her 16th career triple-double in Iowa’s 101-85 win over Illinois on Sunday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, but her unhappiness with how she was playing was showing throughout the game.

Clark had a 24-point, 15-rebound, 10-assist game, but the senior guard always notices the little things, the flaws in her game.

She shot 6-of-18 from the field, 5-of-14 in 3-pointers. She had five turnovers, and Illinois’ defense was keeping her from getting in the lane.

So when Clark missed back-to-back 3-pointers in a 22-second stretch with less than three minutes remaining in the first half, she asked to come out of the game.

And when Clark sat down, she gave the empty chair two rapid-fire smacks in anger. Seventy-two seconds later, she checked back into the game.

“I think it was just missing shots that I usually make,” Clark said. “Sometimes you have to let it out and regroup. I asked for the sub, just to take a second, take a deep breath. Obviously I didn’t shoot it great tonight but still, it wasn’t terrible.

“That’s just shooting. That happens. Some nights are great, some nights are not so great, some are mediocre, and that’s just kind of what happens.”

Clark’s idea of mediocrity is something a lot of players would want.

Iowa coach Lisa Bluder laughed about it in the post-game, when she looked at the analytics and Clark’s effective field goal percentage.

“Tonight, and this is kind of tongue in cheek, but when Caitlin’s having a little bit of an off-night, she’s shooting 47 percent and getting a triple-double,” Bluder said, her voice rising with the exclamation point on the final words. “Are you kidding? That’s amazing.”

Iowa has won every game in which Clark has had a triple-double, but this wasn’t just her show on Sunday, and as the Hawkeyes creep closer to the one-and-done time of March, they’re going to need everyone.

Hannah Stuelke had 20 points. Molly Davis, rounding back into her usual play after suffering through an illness a couple of weeks ago, had 17 points. Kate Martin had 13.

“We had four people in double figures, almost six people in double figures,” Bluder said, as Kylie Feuerbach’s nine points and Sydney Affolter’s eight points also played a big role in this game. “For us to be successful, that’s what we have to be.”

The Hawkeyes had 28 assists on 36 field goals, and six players combined for 17 3-pointers.

“We’ve needed this,” Bluder said. “We want this to happen. We want people to step up because it makes Caitlin’s job easier. When other people are doing what they should be doing, it makes her job so much easier. And we are more enjoyable to watch in that situation as well.”

“You’ve got to give Iowa credit, we were on spin cycle the entire game,” Illinois coach Shauna Green said. “They hit 17 threes. You can’t beat anyone when they hit 17 threes. And that’s all from their inside-out action.”

Illinois’ plan was to keep Clark from getting to the basket, and to do so meant surrendering something on the outside.

“I honestly think they just collapsed on every single drive tonight,” Clark said. “It was kind of hard for me to get my feet in the paint and get good looks at the rim.

“We shot the ball well, we made 17 threes. It was kind of like they were going to live with that, make us prove ourselves from the outside, and I felt like that’s exactly what we did.”

The Hawkeyes (24-4 overall, 13-3 Big Ten) were coming off an 86-69 road loss to Indiana that trimmed their conference title hopes to win-out-and-hope-for-help-that-probably-isn’t-coming, and Green figured Clark would be in not just scoring mode, but passing mode to get her team going.

“I thought we did a good job overall on Caitlin,” Green said. “She’s such a … just a talented player. Obviously you’re not going to hold her down. We made her work for her stuff. But I think Caitlin did an elite job of coming out and being a facilitator, which I kind of had a hunch she would do.”

“There was some beautiful passing out there,” Bluder said. “Caitlin’s passes, the dumps to the post, were amazing in the first half. In the second half, there was just such unselfish play. That’s the basketball we want to see.”

Iowa has averaged 103 points in its four wins after losses this season. That’s quite the effective bounce-back, but the time is coming when there won’t be a chance to bounce back.

Bluder said the one question that still has to be answered is who can provide production in the post besides Stuelke. At this late point in the season, it may not be one that can be answered.

So the Hawkeyes will roll with what they’ve got, and what they need is big Clark nights, and contributions from everyone else.

As Bluder said, that’s what they have to be.

Photo: Iowa’s Caitlin Clark passes around two Illinois defenders during Sunday’s game. (Brian Ray/hawkeyesports.com)