Doggydaddy's Den: Doggy's Doghouse 11/27/17

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Cold!!!!!

This kid is a RIOT!!!

He's got his hat and his boots!

Ready to ride the choo choo train!!

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I posted an article yesterday by a Michigan writer where he called UConn ruthless. I don't know about that. But my friend Intpseeker posted this photo on a UConn message board. It is so accurate. Much more relentless than ruthless.

From the coach of MSU Suzy (the hair) Merchant -

"You don’t drop your head when you play against Connecticut’s women’s basketball team. There’s no time for dejection, no matter how quickly 'and thoroughly the defeat. You’re in a fight for your dignity."

"This team is like a machine.”

Yes, like a machine, but they are human. They make mistakes. They miss shots. But what they don't do is take a play off. You never see a UConn player jog back on a play, or drop their head when the opponent makes a run. And it does happen.

Yes, their talent is exceptional. Their coaching is the best. But it's the effort, the relentless play that separates them from everyone else. Geno won't accept less and it doesn't take long before the players won't accept less from themselves.

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If you haven't seen it yet, here is my UConn/Michigan State Post Game Report.

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More top 25 games Sunday -

In an upset, No. 6 Notre Dame beat up on South Carolina XX-XX. I don't think the Irish winning was a big surprise, but the way they did was. After a terrible first quarter where ND was down 28-18, they proceeded to outscore the Gamecocks 48-27 over the next two quarters for a 66-55 lead going into the final quarter. Notre Dame extended that to an 80-61 lead before South Carolina made one more run to close to 13 and the lead went back and forth between 9 and 11 over the last 4 minutes until it started to be a foul fest with South Carolina trying to get back into the game. ND complied several times by missing foul shots but the lead was really never threatened. It go as close as 5 points before the game ended with the final margin of 7 in the 92-85 Notre Dame win. Notre Dame was led by their two terrific offensive threads in Jackie Young with 22 and Arike Ogunwowale with 23. Young added 10 rebounds and 4 assists and Ogunwowale had 7 rebounds and added 5 assists. As expected A'ja Wilson had 34 points along with 9 rebounds and 5 assists. She also had 3 blocks.

No. 19 Texas A&M beat up on Texas Tech winning 90-56. One of the best freshman in the country, Chennady Carter had 30 points. The Aggies started the game on a UConn-like 26-3 run and continues to hammer the Red Raiders throughout the game.

No. 17 South Florida, the only other AAC team ranked besides UConn defeated St. John's 68-59 behind a terrific game by Maria Jesperson with 25 points. Their other big scorer, Kitija Laksa had 18 points and 8 rebounds. Looks like 4 starters and one bench player is back for the Bulls. They should have a decent season, other than the times they play UConn.

No. 15 Maryland defeated Miami 79-71 behind double doubles from Iesha Small and Kaila Charles. It was Small's first double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Charles had 18 points and 12 rebounds. How unusual is it when two guards have double-doubles? I think pretty unusual.

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By David in Naples!!!!!

Michigan State was 4-0 and leading the nation in scoring at 99 pts per game, then they played UConn. The Huskies hung 96 points on the Spartans and held them to 35 in the first three quarters. The final score of 96-62 doesn't reflect the severity of the beat down. Here are some other stats that may have been missed:

1. UConn had at least 4 players score in double figures for the 4th straight game. Against Stanford, only three were in double figures.
2. Andra Espinoza-Hunter is now 4-8 from three-point range. That is 50% and 2nd on the team to Crystal at 52%.

3. The UConn bench shot 8-14 (57%) against MSU. They scored 19 points.

4. Taya Reimer, formerly of Notre Dame, had 1 rebound, 4 fouls and only 4 points on 2-7 shooting.
5. MSU, despite averaging 5 blocked shots per game, had 0 against UConn. Their line up features players who are 6'4", 6'4", 6'4", 6'2", 6'1", 6' and 6'.

6. Napheesa had a 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 stat line. 0 turnovers, 1 three, 2 offensive rebounds, 3 blocks, 4 assists, 5 steals and 6 baskets. She finished with 12 rebounds and 14 points.
7. UConn exploded for 30 assists against Michigan State, after averaging 18 in the prior 4 games.
8. They went 1-13 shooting threes in the 1st half. Then, made 6-11 (54.5%) in the 2nd half.
9. The only UConn player with a three-point basket in every game is Napheesa Collier. She has 1 in each of the five games.