UCONN @ South Florida
Day: Monday
Date: March 6th, 2017
Time: 7:00
Location: Mohegan Sun Arena
TV: ESPN2
No. 1 UConn Huskies No. 22 South Florida Bulls
30-0 (16-0) 24-7 (11-5)
Prior Meetings
UConn leads the series 21-0
12/28/02 W 72-56 A
12/1/04 W 75-65 (ot) H
1/24/06 W 77-47 H
2/20/07 W 81-67 A
3/4/07 W 74-54 N1/30/08 W 71-48 H
1/6/09 W 83-37 A
3/8/09 W 79-42 H
1/4/10 W 84-42 H
12/2/10 W 80-54 A
1/28/12 W 77-62 H
3/2/13 W 85-51 A
1/26/14 W 81-53 H
2/16/14 W 63-38 A
1/18/15 W 92-50 H
3/2/15 W 88-65 N
3/9/15 W 84-70 N
1/10/16 W 75-59 A
2/29/16 W 79-59 H
3/7/16 W 77-51 N
1/10/17 W 102-37 H
2/27/17 W 96-68 A
1/18/15 W 92-50 H
3/2/15 W 88-65 N
3/9/15 W 84-70 N
1/10/16 W 75-59 A
2/29/16 W 79-59 H
3/7/16 W 77-51 N
1/10/17 W 102-37 H
2/27/17 W 96-68 A
Team Overviews
South Florida won their first two game of the tournament, beating SMU 62-55 and then Temple 63-58.
UConn won their first two games of the tournament, beating Tulsa 105-57 and then Central Florida 78-56.
This will be the third consecutive meeting between South Florida and Connecticut in the championship game. Last year UConn won 77-51 and the year before the Huskies won 84-70. Relatively close games. But USF doesn't have Courtney Williams appearing on the court on Monday night.
UCONN South Florida
86.2 Points Per Game 72.1
54.1 Opp Points Per Game 60..5
.519 Field Goal % .437
.346 Opp Field Goal % .378
.386 3 Point Field Goal % .334
.271 Opp 3 Point Field Goal % .314
.786 Free Throw % .749
39.4 Rebounds Per Game 42.3
32.9 Opp Rebounds Per Game 33.3
23.1 Assists Per Game 14.5
12.1 Turnovers Per Game 13.2
1.9 Assists/Turnover Ratio 1.1
1.9 Assists/Turnover Ratio 1.1
10.2 Steals Per Game 4.8
4.9 Blocks Per Game 2.8
UCONN
UConn Starters
33 Katie Lou Samuelson
6'3" Sophomore Guard/Forward
First UConn/USF Game 29 minutes, 18 points, 6 rebs, 1 assist, 6 steals
Second UConn/USF Game 37 minutes, 16 points, 2 rebs, 4 assist
MPG 31.0, FG% .483, 3PT% .410, FT% .837, PPG 20.4, RPG 3.8, APG 3.0
24 Napheesa Collier
6'1" Sophomore Forward/Guard
First UConn/USF Game 26 minutes, 19 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block
Second UConn/USF Game 36 minutes, 39 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assist, 4 blocks
MPG 30.1, FG% .689, 3PT% .410, FT% .838, PPG 20.4, RPG 9.0, APG 2.1
15 Gabby Williams
5'11" Junior Forward
First UConn/USF Game 21 minutes, 11 points, 13 rebs, 7 assists, 4 blks, 3 steals
Second UConn/USF Game 33 minutes, 18 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assist, 3 steals
MPG 28.4, FG% .566, 3PT% .167, FT% .686, PPG 13.2, RPG 8.6, APG 5.2
11 Kia Nurse
6' Junior Guard
First UConn/USF Game 25 minutes, 13 points, 7 rebs, 3 assists
Second UConn/USF Game DNP
MPG 30.4, FG% .451, 3PT% .417, FT% .861, PPG 12.3, RPG 2.3, APG 3.9
12 Saniya Chong
5'8" Senior Guard
First UConn/USF Game 30 minutes, 20 points, 3 rebs, 8 assists, 1 steal
Second UConn/USF Game 34 minutes, 9 points, 4 rebs, 1 assist, 2 steals
MPG 30.1, FG% .462, 3PT% .385, FT% .804, PPG 8.1, RPG 2.8, APG 3.9
UConn Bench
5 Crystal Dangerfield
5'5" Freshman Guard
First UConn/USF Game 20 minutes, 5 points, 2 rebs, 2 assists
Second UConn/USF Game 38 minutes, 12 points, 3 rebounds, 9 assists
MPG 24.3, FG% .418, 3PT% .328, FT% .625, PPG 6.6, RPG 2.3, APG 3.7
51 Natalie Butler
6'5" RS Junior Center
First UConn/USF Game 19 minutes, 10 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks
Second UConn/USF Game 10 minutes, 0 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists
MPG 16.3, FG% .480, 3PT% .000, FT% .737, PPG 5.5, RPG 4.9, APG 1.2
10 Molly Bent
5'9" Freshman Guard
First UConn/USF Game 16 minutes, 2 points, 3 assists
Second UConn/USF Game 2 minutes
MPG 9.9 FG% .313, 3PT% .333, FT% .625, PPG 1.1, RPG 1.4, APG 1.3
25 Kyla Irwin
6'2" Freshman Forward
First UConn/USF Game 11 minutes, 6 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assists, 1 steal
Second UConn/USF Game 7 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebounds
MPG 8.1, FG% .440, 3PT% .267, FT% .714, PPG 2.3, RPG 1.4, APG .4
20 Tierney Lawlor
5'7" Senior Guard
First UConn/USF Game 3 minutes
Second UConn/USF Game 3 minutes
MPG 3.5, FG% .000, 3PT% .000, FT% .500, PPG 0.1, RPG .4, APG .1
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Coach Jose Fernandez
Entering his 17th season as head coach, Fernandez is primed for another record-breaking season. The Bulls enter 2016 ranked in the AP Poll for 22-consecutive weeks and ended the 2015-16 season in the top-25 for the second straight year. Along with coaching the programs first All-American, Fernandez lifted the team to new heights in 2015-16 and achieved the highest ranking in program history, No. 15 in both the AP and USA Today coaches’ polls. USF made its 12th postseason run in 13 seasons and its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
In 16 years at USF, Fernandez became the all-time winningest basketball coach (men’s or women’s) in school history with a program record of 285 wins. Fernandez adds a 2009 WNIT championship to his resume as well, and took the Bulls to the 2014 WNIT Final Four, becoming the winningest coach in the WNIT with 13 wins.
South Florida Starters
33 Kitija Laska
6' Sophomore Forward
First UConn/USF Game 32 minutes, 7 points, 2 rebounds
Second UConn/USF Game 40 minutes, 15 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist
MPG 34.4, FG% .415, 3PT% .395, PPG 19.7, RPG 3.8 APG .9
11 Ariadna Pujol
6'1" Senior Guard/Forward
First UConn/USF Game 32 minutes, 6 points, 5 rebs, 1 block, 2 steals
Second UConn/USF Game 40 minutes, 16 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assist
MPG 34.6, FG% .434, 3PT% .228, PPG 12.8, RPG 6.7 APG 2.5
6'0" Junior Forward
First UConn/USF Game 37 minutes, 11 points, 7 rebounds
Second UConn/USF Game 35 minutes, 6 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block
MPG 35.1, FG% .427, 3PT% .302, PPG 15.6, RPG 9.0 APG 1.8
5'7" Junior Guard
First UConn/USF Game 38 minutes, 6 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assists, 1 steal
Second UConn/USF Game 38 minutes, 13 points, 4 rebs, 6 assist, 1 steal
MPG 36.4, FG% .373, 3PT% .299, PPG 8.4, RPG 4.4 APG 6.2
23 Tamara Henshaw
6'1" Freshman Forward
First UConn/USF Game 18 minutes, 1 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
Second UConn/USF Game 26 minutes, 7 points, 5 rebounds
MPG 25.9, FG% .630, 3PT% .000, PPG 6.9, RPG 7.3 APG 1.0
South Florida Bench
13 Dorottya Nagy
6'2" Freshman Forward
First UConn/USF Game 10 minutes, 2 rebounds
Second UConn/USF Game 14 minutes, 7 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 6 steals
Second UConn/USF Game 14 minutes, 7 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 6 steals
MPG 14.6, FG% .468, 3PT% .375, PPG 3.7, RPG 2.5 APG 1.4
Game Analysis
I'm not going to change much in this analysis.
Certainly South Florida showed they were not as bad as they played in the first game. But they had played so badly in the first game, playing better is a pretty low bar.
That being said, the same matchup issues between these two squads still exists and UConn just has some advantages that didn't go away in 6 weeks between the first two games and they are still there in a game only one week later.
Right now, Fernandez is playing his best players the entire game. Katija Laksa, Maria Jesperson, Ariadna Pujol and Laia Flores played 80 out of 80 minutes so far in the AAC tournament. Expect that to happen again.
The 6' Katija Laksa is still the scoring star of this team. And she did score 15 points in the second matchup. But she is only 9-33 from the field and 4-12 on threes. UConn is playing really tough defense on her. And Nurse will be back. It will be harder for Laksa to get her shots off.
Maria Jesperson is also having a tough time getting her shot. Williams and Collier are too tough for her. Williams is too quick and Collier is quicker and longer. She is only 8-28 from the field and 1-8 on threes.
Ariadna Pujol, the 6'1" guard/forward from Spain and Laia Flores, the 5'7" point guard is from the same town in Spain as Pujol are doing a little better shooting, going a combined 15-43 from the field and 4-12 on threes.
The fifth starter, freshman Tamara Henshaw is a big 6'1" forward and is just not quick enough to defend the UConn forwards and doesn't have the offensive game to be a factor. I will say, I was impressed with her against Temple other than her proclivity for fouling.
The only other player that will see significant minutes is Dorottya Nagy, a 6'2" forward for Pec, Hungary. She is the only other player that sees double digit minutes. But she is really there just to split some time with Henshaw.
South Florida plays almost exclusively man-to-man, and they do it very well. They are not that quick, but they know how to move their feet to keep the defender in front of them. They have been well drilled. They held a high scoring UConn team to under 80 points three times last year but this year, but they gave up 102 points in the first game and they gave up 96 points in the second meeting. They just don't have the quick players that graduated from last years roster to contend with UConn.
UConn will try to tire out the Bulls as four of their starters will be close to the 40 minute mark. UConn will press, run off misses, run off makes, run run run.
UConn will also be able to get to the rim as USF has no shot blocking presence. And as they try to protect the basket, Samuelson and Chong will get open looks from deep. This killed the Bulls in the first matchup. But the biggest matchup in this game will once again be Collier, who burned USF by scoring a career high 39 points the last time they met.
Final Prediction
Nothing has changed in a week. UConn still has all the advantages and a player that has the ability on defense in Gabby Williams to shut down the best USF scorer, Laksa. The first game was a 65 point margin, the second game was a 28 point margin. This game could be close for a while if USF is hitting from the outside. But the third game in three nights catches up to the Bulls.
Coach Fernandez said it best - "We gotta makes shots. They are really good." Sorry Coach, you won't take or make enough shots.
UConn
by 30+.
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