Doggydaddy's Den: DoggyDaddy's Dailies 3/20/16

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Here is the link to my ESPN Challenge page.

After Saturday's action, here are the leaders -

Pinotbear - 300
Chappette - 270

Yukon - 270
Paloalto81 - 270

OOSE - 270

Thirteen tied with 260 including yours truly.

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I was able to go to the game today and what a treat it was. Thanks to McHuskyfan (Carol) we had great seats right behind Cathy Auriemma and her three grandkids. So cute. My wife and I made the ESPN broadcast!

And the game? Just wow!

UConn jumped out to an early lead and just poured it on. I'm sure most of you watched. If you did and you saw them show a clip of some fans clapping before the center jump, you would have seen me and my wife. The camera was right on us and I did get texts from friends saying they just saw us. Very cool. Blue UConn hoodie and hat.

The first quarter was probably the best basketball I have seen this UConn play all season. They were just firing on all cylinders. Their passes were so sharp, their shooting so accurate, their defense so intense. Unbelievable. As Geno said earlier, when the tournament starts he expects a new attitude and boy did he get it.

I loved some of the banter between the players. They were really enjoying themselves. On one fast break, Jefferson threw an alley-oop to Stewart and she wasn't prepared for it and the ball sailed out of bounds. Moriah signaled "up, up" and all Stewie could do was laugh.

There was a great sequence where Jefferson hit Nurse with a wrap-a-round pass for a layup and clearly Kia wasn't ready for it but still completed the play. And the next time down, Nurse threw and unbelievable bounce pass to Jefferson on the break between a few Robert Morris defenders for a layup to return the favor.

Katie Lou was just fantastic in this game, shooting 3-4 on threes and just scoring in other ways. She also added 5 rebounds. Stewart scored 18 points and was amazing on defense, pilfering the ball 8 times.

UConn had 6 players in double figures including Collier off the bench with 14 points. She performed as well as Geno said she was playing in practice this week. Did something click for this talented freshman? If so UConn just got better.

Jefferson and Tuck were their usual selves with 14 and 13 points respectively. Tuck added 8 rebounds and Jefferson had 5 assists.

What made me really happy was the continued great play and hot shooting of Kia Nurse. She was 5-7 from the field and 2-2 on threes. This after a terrific AAC tourney performance. To put the numbers in perspective (Calling David in Naples), in the post season so far, Nurse is shooting 18-30 from the field (60%) and 6-10 (60%) on threes. She is also averaging 12 points and has 10 assists and only 2 turnovers. Talk about turning it on. Wow!

Overall UConn shot 55.9% from the field, 55.4% on threes going 10-18 and a remarkable 25-27 from the free throw line. A great start. They also had 20 assists and a season high 21 steals.

My prediction of 60+ was looking really good for most of the 4th quarter until Robert Morris his a few really long threes to close the gap. Oh well.

UConn will now take on Duquesne on Monday, the time to be determined.

Game Notes

The Robert Morris band played the fastest National Anthem I have ever heard. I think they knew what was coming and wanted to get the hell out of there.

I got to see all of my usual UConn friends, Phil, DannyK (basketball wig guy), sTu, and some of my media friends, John Altavilla and Mike DiMauro. Loads of fun.

I sat a few rows away from UConn incoming freshman Molly Bent and her dad. He is a REALLY nice guy and I hope he checks out my blog. And Molly is such a sweetheart and SO excited to be coming to UConn.

I don't think I have even seen a three point shot as high as the Robert Morris team. So high that I bet the ball disappears from the screen on TV.

Robert Morris coach Sal Buscaglia coached his last game, and I hope he doesn't let the final margin put a dimmer on his wonderful career. He coached the heck out of his players in this game and they never gave up and played hard the entire 40 minutes. And he had this to say to the media -

“Cover women’s basketball. Tell your editors and the owners of your papers. And not just the major programs, not just UConn. Cover the mid-majors. Go into your editors and tell them these women deserve to have recognition. Tell them, they deserve to have exposure and I want to cover them. Don’t just cover them for special events. Go to your editors and support these young ladies. Don’t treat them as second-class and don’t let your editors treat them like second class. Don’t let the TV people treat them like second class. Go after it. Do it. Female student-athletes deserve it in every sport.”

You go, Coach Sal!!!

RM outscored UConn 25-16 in the final quarter to ruin my prediction! Bah!

Hey, don't step on Geno's blue suede shoes!! Quite the fashion statement.

Speaking of fashion, UConn's Neal Eskin, part of the Athletic Department, was wearing this crazy, flashy sports coat. Neon Blue I think. And when Geno saw him, he went WOW WOW WOW.....lol. I love how even before an NCAA tournament game, Geno is relaxed enough to have fun.

So, every once in a while you make a decision that ends up to be a bad one. I made one that ended up being the worst I've made in a long time. After the game was over, we decided to not stay for the second game. I found out later that the entire team sat in front of where I was sitting and in fact, Gabby Williams was sitting in my seat. I can't believe I missed the chance to take selfies with the entire team. You know I would have!!! I'm kicking myself!!

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Duquesne beat up on Seton Hall, 97-76 in a high scoring affair. I'll have a UConn/Duquesne pregame report, sometime Sunday.

Their team stats were very UConn like, as they shot 48% from the field, 42% on threes and 20-23 from the FT line. They also had 19 assists.

Could be a fun matchup.

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From David in Naples

Breanna Stewart did a lot of everything in UConn's beat down of Robert Morris today. Stewie made it look easy as 1, 2, 3... Consider:

1. Stewie had 1 made three point basket.
2. She had 2 offensive rebounds, five total.
3. Breanna blocked 3 shots to pass Lobo as #1 UConn leader.
4. Stewart contributed 4 assists.
5. She made 5 of her seven shots from the field.
6. UConn needs 6 victories in the tournament for their 11th N.C.
7. Stewie made 7 free throws in eight tries.
8. She had an amazing 8 steals.

Stewie played 20 minutes and filled the stat sheet with 18 points and all the highlights listed above.

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So, without further ado!!!

Ladies and Gents, DD looks at the news........