Doggydaddy's Den: DoggyDaddy's Dailies 2/21/17

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If you missed it, here is my UConn/Tulane Post Game Report.

And here is my UConn/Temple Pre Game Report.

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Continuing the upsets in the top 25 and the showing of parity in WCBB No. 12 Ohio State upset No. 2 Maryland 98-87. The Terps hadn't lost to anyone since losing to UConn on December 29th. It was their only loss of the season before this game.

They also haven't played a team that was ranked since the UConn game as well. The "Big" Ten (not so big in WCBB) is not a very good conference. They are no better than the AAC if not worse.

This was really a crazy game. The Buckeyes ran out to a 49-40 lead at the half where they had a lead of 15 points at one point. The third quarter was really bizarre. Ohio State pushed the lead to 16 points 68-52 with 3:38 remaining in the quarter. And before you could blink, Maryland went on an explosive run, closing to two points, 68-66 at the half with 14 straight points in 3 minutes. Whew.

Ohio State pushed the lead to 6 points quickly in the fourth quarter and the lead vacillated between 6 and 11 points for the rest of the game. The upset was in hand and Maryland will drop from the second spot in the polls.

Ohio State was led by Kelsey Mitchell with 31 points, Calhoun and Cooper were a combined 6-7 on threes. The team shot 63% from the field and 55% on threes. A great offensive effort.

And a lousy defensive effort by Maryland. Some people's AA Destiny Slocum was 5-19 from the field and 3-11 on threes with 4 assists and 5 turnovers. Kimbrough-Walker was terrific with 29 points.

Just a reminder. UConn beat both of these teams this season.

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In the second Big Monday matchup, No. 2 Baylor and No. 8 Texas had their rematch. Texas upset the Lady Bears earlier this season on Baylor's home court. This one was in Texas and for a long while it looks like the Longhorns were going to pull it off again. They had a big first quarter and Baylor had NINE turnovers in the quarter. At the half Texas built the lead to 11, 36-25.

But Baylor refused to go away, even with a big Texas lead and a 52-45 lead going into the fourth quarter. But Texas just stopped scoring. Baylor scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter before Texas scored on a three point play. Baylor came right back with a couple of baskets to finally take a lead, 56-55. After Texas hit one foul shot to tie it, a nice foul line jumper by freshman Lauren Cox gave them the lead and then a fast break and wraparound pass by Wallace to Brown pushed the lead to 4. It was an 8-1 run by Baylor over 2:30.

Texas just couldn't run their offense. Baylor was in their grill and they didn't get any good looks. An offensive rebound by Brown, putback and foul shot gave Baylor a seven point lead with 1:25 remaining in the game. Lauren Cox hustled for an offensive rebound, drove to the basket and scored giving Baylor a nine point lead. But Texas didn't give up and actually had a chance to tie it on a three pointer by Brooke McCarty. Baylor hit their free throws to keep the lead at three points 70-67 with 6 seconds left.

Believe it or not, Texas got one more shot when they stole the inbounds and McCarty had one more good look, her three pointer rimming out of the hoop. What a great finish!!!

Baylor solidified their No. 1 seed position and Texas did nothing to hurt their No. 2 seed. Two very good teams.

Oh yeah, UConn also beat both of these teams.

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By David in Naples!!!!!

The Huskies took only 50 shots against Tulane on Saturday. To make matters worse, they shot 38% and ended up with only 19 baskets. Only six of those baskets were from three point range, plus UConn made 19 free throws to end up with 63 points. Normally, that would get the team a double digit win, but not against Tulane. The Huskies escaped with a 63-60 victory and Geno said the wrong team won, giving credit to the Green Wave for their inspired play. So why so few shots?

Getting only 50 shots is not UConn's worse output this season. Against UCF, the Huskies only took 49 shots and versus LSU there were only 47 attempts. Several factors explain why those games were lopsided victories and Tulane was a near disaster. Against UCF, the Huskies made 31 of those 49 shots, including an incredible 72.7% in the 1st half. UConn averages 32 baskets a game, so they were right on track despite the low shot total. In the game versus LSU, UConn made 22 baskets out of 47 shots. However, 14 of those were three pointers worth 42 points. Low shot totals won't kill you if you make enough of them and mix in lots of threes.

Against Tulane, four factors combined to almost kennel the Huskies. First, UConn only took 50 shots. Second, they made only 19 or 38%. Third, only 6 of those baskets were threes, worth only 18 points. Finally, add in 18 turnovers and you have a recipe for losing. Against UCF and LSU, the Huskies had 21 and 20 turnovers, but made up for with accurate three point shooting. They also made the most of the limited shots by making 63% and 47% of their tries. Bottom line is don't combine lots of turnovers with cold shooting..!!

One final point. Tulane is a good team, but some of their three point baskets were insanely lucky. Two were bank shots, which normally only count if you are playing h.o.r.s.e. A third three rolled around, came out and them fell back thru the hoop. At the end of the game, everything that could go wrong for the Huskies did, and they still won.