DoggyDaddy's UConn/Tulane II Pre Game Report

UCONN vs Tulane

Day: Saturday

Date: February 18th, 2017

Location: Devlin Fieldhouse
New Orleans, LA 

Time: 7:00

TV: SNY/ESPN3

No. 1 UConn 25-0 (12-0)                                  Tulane 16-10 (7-6)

            

 Head to Head games

UConn leads the series 6-0

2/14/15 W 87-39 H

2/23/15 W 94-47 A

2/3/16   W 93-38 A
2/27/16 W 80-40 H
3/6/16 W 82-35 N
1/22/17 W 100-56 H

Highlights from the 1/22/17 game from the UConn team Site

Highlights from the 1/22/17 game from the AAC site

Overview

Tulane has had a rollercoaster ride since the last meeting with UConn. They recovered nicely after that thrashing, winning three straight. They beat Tulsa 70-65, Cincinnati 74-68 OT, and Houston 57-49. They were sitting at 15-7 and 6-3 in the conference with a chance to make a real move into the NCAA tournament hunt. They had games coming up against the two best teams after UConn in the league and with a couple of upsets, they would be on their way. It just didn't happen. They lost big to now No. 25 Temple 76-50, lost a really tough game to Memphis 55-52 then gave it all they had in a loss to No. 22 South Florida 66-56. In their last outing they won a must win game against Cincinnati 62-51. With three regular season games left and the AAC tournament as well, Tulane could win four more games and get to 20 with an outside chance of making the tournament.

UConn made more history in their last game by winning their 100th consecutive game with a victory over No. 6 South Carolina 66-55. This team continues to exceed all expectations by overcoming every obstacle in their way. In this last game, their leading scorer Katie Lou Samuelson had her worst shooting game of the season, their lead guard Kia Nurse only played 18 minutes due to an ankle issue and their two forwards, Napheesa Collier and Gabby Williams, both played with foul trouble. I'm sure this team feels a little beat up after the very physical game against the Gamecocks, so it was good to have several days between games.           

Stat by Stat Comparison

 Leader is bolded.

UConn                                               Tulane

                                           86.0         Points Per Game                     64.8

                                           53.8         Opp Points Per Game             63.2

                                           .516         Field Goal %                          .428

                                           .344         Opp Field Goal %                  .389

                                           .390         3 Point Field Goal %              .328

                                           .257         Opp 3 Point Field Goal %      .317

                                           .779         Free Throw %                         .702

                                            39.2         Rebounds Per Game               35.9

                                            33.5         Opp Rebounds Per Game       37.3

                                            23.4         Assists Per Game                   14.0

                                            12.2         Turnovers Per Game              17.1
                                              1.9         Assists/Turnover Ratio             .8

                                            10.4         Steals Per Game                      7.0

                                              4.7         Blocks Per Game                    3.5

UCONN

UConn Starters

33 Katie Lou Samuelson

6'3" Sophomore Guard/Forward

First Tulane game - 29 minutes, 32 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 0 turnovers, 7 steals

MPG 30.6, FG% .491, 3PT% .421, FT% .812, PPG 20.8, RPG 3.8, APG 2.6

24 Napheesa Collier

6'1" Sophomore Forward/Guard

First Tulane game - 21 minutes, 17 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 turnovers, 1 block

MPG 29.7, FG% .666, 3PT% .333, FT% .802, PPG 19.1, RPG 8.7, APG 2.2

15 Gabby Williams

5'11" Junior Forward

First Tulane game - 27 minutes, 13 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 turnover, 3 steals

MPG 27.8, FG% .556, 3PT% .167, FT% .696, PPG 13.1, RPG 8.6, APG 5.3

11 Kia Nurse

6' Junior Guard

First Tulane game - 29 minutes, 18 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 0 turnovers, 6 steals

MPG 31.4, FG% .462, 3PT% .422, FT% .857, PPG 12.8, RPG 2.4, APG 4.2

12 Saniya Chong

5'8" Senior Guard

First Tulane game - 38 minutes, 9 points, 0 rebounds, 5 assists, 0 turnovers, 2 steals

MPG 28.6, FG% .484, 3PT% .418, FT% .800, PPG 7.8, RPG 2.5, APG 4.0

UConn Bench

5 Crystal Dangerfield

5'5" Freshman Guard

First Tulane game - DNP

MPG 22.1, FG% .394, 3PT% .314, FT% .636, PPG 5.7, RPG 2.4, APG 3.4

51 Natalie Butler

6'5" RS Sophomore Center

First Tulane game - 24 minutes, 8 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 turnovers, 1 block, 1 steal 

MPG 16.8, FG% .488, 3PT% .000, FT% .750, PPG 5.6, RPG 4.6, APG 1.0

10 Molly Bent

5'9" Freshman Guard

First Tulane game - 13 minutes, 1 points, 1 rebounds, 1 assists, 3 turnovers, 1 steal

MPG 10.7, FG% .267, 3PT% .286, FT% .625, PPG 1.1, RPG 1.7, APG 1.5

25 Kyla Irwin

6'2" Freshman Forward

First Tulane game - 14 minutes, 2 points, 2 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 turnovers, 0 blocks

MPG 8.1, FG% .425, 3PT% .250, FT% .684, PPG 2.4, RPG 1.5, APG .5

20 Tierney Lawlor

5'7" Senior Guard

First Tulane game - 5 minutes, 0 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 turnovers, 0 blocks

MPG 3.2, FG% .000, 3PT% .000, FT% .500, PPG 0.1, RPG .3, APG .1

UCONN TEAM STATS  

Tulane


Head Coach Lisa Stockton

Head Coach Lisa Stockton will embark upon her 23rd season at the helm of the Tulane women’s basketball program for the 2016-17 campaign, and 26th overall as a head coach. Last season, the Green Wave went 23-12 overall, achieving their seventh straight trip to the postseason and seventh consecutive 20+ win season. More season highlights include tying their longest run in the WNIT (Third Round), making their second straight American Conference Tournament semifinal, handing No. 1 UConn their largest deficit of the season, going 3-0 against SEC competition and tying the program record for most wins at home with 14.

Stockton’s career record of 524-254 (.674) as a collegiate head coach is good for a 67.4 winning percentage and she is 461-227 (.670) during her time at Tulane, including a 210-130 (.618) mark in conference play.

“Ever since I can remember, I’ve always wanted to be a basketball coach,” Stockton said. “Growing up in North Carolina with its rich tradition of college basketball, I remember going to games and really enjoying being a part of the whole experience. I was fortunate enough to earn an athletic scholarship and that just solidified my decision on the direction I wanted my professional career to go.

Tulane Starters



3 Kolby Morgan 

5'8" Junior Guard

First UConn game - 34 minutes, 22 points, 3 rebounds, 0 assists, 2 turnovers, 1 block

  

11 Leslie Vorpahl 
5'6" Senior Guard

First UConn game - 21 minutes, 4 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 11 turnovers

33 Courtnie Latham 
5'11" Senior Guard

First UConn game - 28 minutes, 7 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 turnover, 1 steal

 

25 Harlyn Wyatt 

6'2" Sophomore Forward

First UConn game - 19 minutes, 6 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 1 block, 1 steal

15 Tene Thompson
5'11" Sophomore Guard

First UConn game - 22 minutes, 2 points, 4 rebounds, 0 assists, 3 turnovers, 1 block

Tulane Bench

22 Meredith Schulte 

6'0" Sophomore Guard

First UConn game - 13 minutes, 0 points, 2 rebounds, 0 assists, 1 steal

13 Cayla Cruickshank 
5'9" Junior Guard

First UConn game - 11 minutes, 2 points, 4 rebounds, 0 assists, 2 turnovers, 2 steals

1 Shakira Harding
5'7" Senior Guard

First UConn game - 15 minutes, 3 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 3 turnovers

23 Madison Wells

6'1" Freshman Forward

First UConn game - 17 minutes, 8 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 turnovers, 1 steal 

 Tulane Stats

 Game Analysis

Tulane disappointed in the first matchup. I felt they would be an interesting matchup for UConn. I really liked how Tulane ran their offense but it was totally ineffective against UConn's tough defense.

Leslie Vorpahl, their 5'6" point guard is a terrific player that has a really bad game against UConn in the first matchup. She has a nice pull up jumper, a good handle and can hit from the outside and showed none of that in the first game. Kolby Morgan is their leading scorer and is a pretty good size guard. She was terrific in the first game. She has a nice pull up jumper and is strong to the basket on her drives and did both of those against UConn.

The team plays a nice offensive scheme, drives off screens and then either shooting long range or making that extra pass. Morgan and Vorpahl usually take plenty of threes and have decent percentages and are the only two double digit scorers for the Green Wave. They are not a particularly good rebounding team. Big trouble against an improving rebounding team like UConn.

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.

On defense UConn will press Tulane, trying to get the ball out of Vorpahl's hands as they did the first time. UConn will look to run off turnovers and I expect Tulane to have more than their average of 16 per game as they did the first game with 26.

UConn will take advantage of their size advantage with plenty of post entry passes from all the UConn players. It's the beauty of the diversity of this team. UConn will want a fast pace and Tulane will try to slow it down.

In the first matchup, Katie Lou was dominating with 32 points on 11-18 shooting and 4-7 on threes along with 7 steals. Kia was terrific as well with 18 points and 6 steals. Those two really befuddled  the Tulane offense and defense. Dangerfield sat out this game. Butler had a solid game with 8 point, 8 rebounds and 3 steals.   
  

Final Prediction

Nothing has really changed since these two teams last met. While I like how Tulane plays, they just don't have the horses to compete and keep the game close.  As I put together the comparable stats for this game, almost every stat is down since the UConn game.

But even with that, I think this game will be closer than the first one. UConn won that game by 44. I predicted 45. This one? 35+ point margin.