Day: Wednesday
Date: February 3rd, 2016
Location: New Orleans
Time: 8:00
TV: ESPN3/SNY
No. 1 UConn 20-0 (10-0) Tulane 15-6 (6-3)
Head to Head games
UConn leads the series 2-0
UConn leads the series 2-0
2/14/15 W 87-39 H
2/23/15 W 94-47 A
Overview
Tulane is coming off of a tough loss to Temple, 72-54. Prior to that, they were 14-2 in their last 16 games, losing only to Memphis and No. 20 South Florida. It's been a pretty darn good season for the Green Wave. They are coming off a 20 win season and had lost 3 starters to graduation. And still they are having another good season and probably 20 wins again. Tulane has beaten three Power Five teams in Ole Miss, LSU and Virginia, and lost to ranked Florida State by only 6. They have lost to Rutgers by 24 and Green Bay by 21, Memphis by 16 and in their last out, Temple by 18 for their bad losses. In conference, they only lost to ranked USF by four, 71-67. At 15-6 they have an outside shot at an at large bid. A good showing against UConn at home, where they are 10-1, would help.
Since playing South Florida and winning by "only" sixteen, UConn has been on quite the roll, pretty much destroying the conference opposition over the last six games by an average of a 94-42 score. Better than their season averages of 89-49. Both a reflection of weakness of the AAC and the improved play of UConn, mostly on the defensive end. UConn is also hitting their free throws at a higher clip than any team in UConn history at 79.6%. That is NUMBER ONE in the country. This stat is not talked about enough.
Stat by Stat Comparison
Leader is bolded.
Tulane Stats do not include the Temple game
Leader is bolded.
Tulane Stats do not include the Temple game
UConn Tulane
89.7 Points Per Game 68.8
49.1 Opp Points Per Game 60.0
.529 Field Goal % .439
.334 Opp Field Goal % .372
.363 3 Point Field Goal % .349
.323 Opp 3 Point Field Goal % .274
.796 Free Throw % .699
41.7 Rebounds Per Game 36.0
29.7 Opp Rebounds Per Game 36.0
22.1 Assists Per Game 13.8
12.4 Turnovers Per Game 16.2
1.8 Assists/Turnover Ratio .9
1.8 Assists/Turnover Ratio .9
12.3 Steals Per Game 8.5
6.6 Blocks Per Game 2.8
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UConn Starters
30 Breanna Stewart
6'4" Senior Forward
6'4" Senior Forward
2015-16 Stats
19 Games - MPG 28.8, FG% .586, 3PT% .426, PPG 19.5 RPG 8.3, APG 4.2, 32 steals, 64 blocks
19 Games - MPG 28.8, FG% .586, 3PT% .426, PPG 19.5 RPG 8.3, APG 4.2, 32 steals, 64 blocks
4 Moriah Jefferson
5'7" Senior Guard
5'7" Senior Guard
2015-16 Stats
19 Games - MPG 31.1, FG% .576, 3PT% .406, PPG 13.3, RPG 2.5, APG 5.5, 51 steals, 2 blocks
11 Kia Nurse
6' Sophomore Guard
2015-16 Stats
20 Games - MPG 27.3, FG% .423, 3PT% .333, PPG 9.6, RPG 2.1, APG 3.0, 30 steals, 5 blocks
15 Gabby Williams
5'11" Sophomore Forward
5'11" Sophomore Forward
2015-16 Stats
20 Games - MPG 19.4, FG% .612, 3PT% .000, PPG 9.8 RPG 6.2, APG 1.3, 42 steals, 9 blocks
33 Katie Lou Samuelson
6'3" Freshman Guard/Forward
2015-16 Stats
20 Games - MPG 21.4, FG% .433, 3PT% .327, PPG 9.7, RPG 3.4, APG 2.5, 18 steals, 2 blocks
UConn Bench
51 Natalie Butler
6'5" RS Sophomore Center
12 Saniya Chong
5'8" Junior Guard
24 Napheesa Collier
6'1 Freshman Forward/Guard
2015-16 Stats
20 Games - MPG 19.8 FG% .532, 3PT% .000, PPG 7.2, RPG 6.2, APG .9, 35 steals, 31 blocks
6'5" RS Sophomore Center
2015-16 Stats
10 Game - MPG 15.7, FG% .603, 3PT% .000, PPG 7.7, RPG 5.6, APG 1.3, 9 steals, 9 blocks
5'8" Junior Guard
2015-16 Stats
16 Games - MPG 15.9, FG% .467, 3PT% .421, PPG 5.4, RPG 1.5, APG 1.3, 12 steals, 2 blocks
22 Courtney Ekmark
6' Sophomore Guard
2015-16 Stats
17 Games - MPG 10.6, FG% .485, 3PT% .391, PPG 2.6, RPG 1.3, APG 0.9, 5 steals, 1 block
20 Tierney Lawlor
5'7" Junior Guard
2015-16 Stats
16 Games - MPG 3.3, FG% .600, 3PT% .500, PPG .6, RPG 0.2, APG 0.2, 1 steals, 0 blocks
5'7" Senior Guard
2015-16 Stats
14 Games - MPG 2.4, FG% .200, 3PT% .167, PPG 0.4, RPG 0.1, APG 0.1, 0 steals, 0 blocks
OUT FOR THE GAME
3 Morgan Tuck
6'2" RS Junior Forward
6'2" RS Junior Forward
I'll move her back in when I hear differently, but I don't think she plays this game.
2015-16 Stats
15Games - MPG 28.6, FG% .538, 3PT% .333, PPG 14.9, RPG 5.9, APG 3.5, 10 steals, 7 blocks
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Tulane Starters
Each player has an introductory video. These were done last season.
3 Kolby Morgan
Each player has an introductory video. These were done last season.
5'8" Sophomore Guard
2015-16: MPG 31.8, FG% .440, 3PT% .356, PPG 16.3, RPG 4.0, APG 2.5, 39 steals, 7 blocks
11 Leslie Vorpahl
5'6" Junior Guard
2015-16: MPG 32.6, FG% .434, 3PT% .413, PPG 12.5, RPG 3.7, APG 5.7, 38 steals, 2 blocks
33 Courtnie Latham
5'11" Junior Guard
2015-16: MPG 29.9, FG% .347, 3PT% .239, PPG 8.8, RPG 3.5, APG 2.4, 20 steals, 4 blocks
6'2" Senior Center
2015-16: MPG 24.0, FG% .509 3PT% .000, PPG 8.1, RPG 4.8, APG .5, 9 steals, 23 blocks
5'9" Senior Forward
2015-16: MPG 24.1, FG% .522, 3PT% .000, PPG 6.8, RPG 6.0, APG 1.0, 19 steals, 4 blocks
Tulane Bench
5'10" Freshman Guard
2015-16: MPG 17.1, FG% .468, 3PT% .375, PPG 6.9, RPG 2.9 APG .6, 22 steals, 2 blocks
6'2" Freshman Forward
2015-16: MPG 12.8, FG% .526, 3PT% .00, PPG 3.6, RPG 3.1, APG .1, 7 steals, 5 blocks
6'0" Freshman Guard
2015-16: MPG 14.3, FG% .301, 3PT% .267, PPG 3.4, RPG 2.9, APG .2, 5 steals, 1 blocks
Game Analysis
Tulane is an interesting matchup for UConn. I watched the Tulane/USF game and I really liked how Tulane ran their offense. Leslie Vorpahl, their 5'6" point guard is a terrific player. She has a nice pull up jumper, a good handle and can hit from the outside. I really enjoyed her game. She would fit in well with UConn. Their center, Chiwe Duru, is only 6'2, but plays bigger because of her bulk. She carves out space and without Tuck in this game, she could pose a problem in the paint. Kolby Morgan is their leading scorer and is a pretty good size guard. She also has a nice pull up jumper and is strong to the basket on her drives. I like her game as well.
The three of them play very well together and against most teams, are a handful. The team plays a nice offensive scheme, drives off screens and then either shooting or dishing and they playing post up with Duru when they have the advantage. I saw Duru also hit a mid range jumper.
Their problem is when UConn has the ball. They play both a zone and a man-to-man defense, changing up to keep their opponent off guard. I'm sure they will play more zone because UConn will eat them up in the man to man. UConn has seen enough zones this year to know how to attack it.
UConn will certainly have Stewart flash to the middle often, looking for the openings in the zone. If that isn't open, UConn's quick passing around the exterior will find the open jumpers. Jefferson will certainly use her speed to dribble through the zone and find the open man when the defense collapses on her. Tulane doesn't have the athletes to handle this.
On defense UConn will press Tulane, trying to get the ball out of Vorpahl's hands. She is the player that scares me the most on Tulane and I'm sure Geno and Jefferson have some pressure in mind for her. UConn will look to run off turnovers and I expect Tulane to have more than their average of 16 per game.
Final Prediction
While I like how Tulane plays, they just don't have the horses to compete and keep the game close. UConn will turn them over often. And UConn will have no problem hitting their season averages. Tulane is a little better team than the last few opponents, so I'll go with UConn by 40+.
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