Doggydaddy's Den: DoggyDaddy's Dailies 12/2/16

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Well, that was unexpected! Looks like it's Throwback Thursday! UConn beats a top 15 team by 45.

I'm really at a loss words. Ok....not really, but this was a shocking a performance as I have seen since that Mississippi State blowout last season. DePaul is not a bad team. In fact, they are a pretty good team that was made to look really really bad. I'd say that Chattanooga looked better.

I'm working a lot of hours the next 3 days (Caterer has a Friday night dinner (for 70), a luncheon (for 380) and a Saturday night dinner (for 180). So, I'm not sure when I will have time to do this game justice.

Just a few observations -

You certainly can call this Kia Nurse's breakout game with 33 points. She was 11-14 from the field and 6-9 on threes. She just had that look. Her confidence was off the charts. Her 33 points were a career high.

Saniya Chong played her best defensive game of the season. She kept the offensive player in front of her the entire game. She closed on the three point shooters. She fought through screens. She was in the passing lanes. Just a great effort from someone who gets killed by the fans on her defensive play.

Natalie Butler played great in her limited minutes. She is looking better and better every time she takes the court. Her conditioning improvement is noticeable

Gabby Williams is turning into a complete player. She had 10 assists in this game, some spectacular. That many assists from a forward/post player is just devastating to the opponent.

I've mentioned 4 players and didn't mention the two leading scorers for the season, Samuelson and Collier, who were also terrific in this game.

As a team, UConn just dominated DePaul from start to finish. The Huskies shot 59.3% from the field and 50% on threes. They out DePauled DePaul. The UConn defense was even better, holding the Blue Demons to 25% from the field and 7-40 (17.5%) on threes. Connecticut also forced 24 turnovers.

Geno was terrific again in his post game comments. My favorite was when he was talking about Dangerfield's poor play and said "maybe she shouldn't have been cleared". It cracked up the crowd.

And some nice comments from the players!!!

I wish I had more time to work on the post game report!!

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Next up is No. 14 Texas in the Jimmy V Classic at the Mohegan Sun Arena on Sunday at 4:00. Texas lost Thursday night to No. 3 South Carolina at home 76-67.

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What a great night in women's college basketball.

Five Top 25 matchups.

2 Connecticut and 15 DePaul
5 Maryland and 7 Louisville
18 Miami and 9 Ohio State
12 Oklahoma and 17 Kentucky
3 South Carolina 14 Texas

I've got all the results in the Top 25 section.

Of course you have some other powerhouse matchups too.

4 Baylor taking on that tough Abilene Christian
11 Stanford against CSU Bakersfield
13 Washington and Grand Canyon

Wow....

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By David in Naples!!!!!

The first time DePaul played UConn, they won. But, that was before Geno arrived in Storrs. Since then, UConn has won all 13 games against DePaul. Doug Bruno, coach of the Blue Demons, is not the only winless program against Geno. The Huskies, during the Geno years, are undefeated against 125 schools. In some cases, like Cornell, Coppin State or Brown, the record is 1-0. In other situations there are years of futility against the Geno coached Huskies. For example, Cincinnati is 0-15, Hartford 0-14, and Oklahoma 0-10. The record for futility might be University of South Florida. The Bulls of USF are 0-20 and have to face UConn 2-3 more times per year.

Teams with a single victory against Geno include New Hampshire (1-1), San Diego State (1-2) and Clemson (1-3). They also include disasters like Holy Cross (1-19), Virginia Tech (1-10) and Louisville (1-15). At least they can say they beat Geno, even if only once.

There is a tie for teams with the most wins against Geno. Obviously, one is Notre Dame (11-33). The other is Villanova (11-36). Providence (10-39) and Boston College (9-34) deserve honorable mention.

The teams with the most loses to Geno are mostly old Big East foes. Leading the parade is Seton Hall (2-46), Georgetown (3-43), Pittsburg (4-41) and St. Johns (8-40). If you were wondering, Tennessee's record versus Geno is 9-13.