UConn vs Michigan State
Day: Saturday
Date: November 25, 2017
Location: Eugene, Oregon
Matthew Knight Arena
Time: 3:00
Location: Eugene, Oregon
Matthew Knight Arena
Time: 3:00
TV: SNY/ESPN3
No. 1 UConn Huskies Michigan State
No. 1 UConn Huskies Michigan State
4-0 4-0
Overview
Prior Meetings
Series is tied 1-1
UConn stopped Michigan State in Storrs in 1996.
Here is a video of some of that game. Jump ahead to the 1:11:40 mark for the start of the second half of that game.
The No. 10 Spartans then defeated the Huskies in Hartford in 2004 67-51.
UConn stopped Michigan State in Storrs in 1996.
Here is a video of some of that game. Jump ahead to the 1:11:40 mark for the start of the second half of that game.
The No. 10 Spartans then defeated the Huskies in Hartford in 2004 67-51.
Michigan State Overview
MSU is off to a fast start, be it against a very weak schedule. They are 4-0 with wins over Robert Morris 100-58, Oakland 95-63, Charleston 107-43 and Detroit Mercy 97-60. Those numbers look amazing and the team stats (see below) are off the charts. Well, until you look at who they played.
A familiar face, Taya Reimer, is the leading scorer for the Spartans. They have had the luxury of being able to play the entire roster because of the easy schedule. Eleven players had 14+ minutes per game with a high of 25 minutes. Because of that, the scoring is all spread out making it impossible for me to know who will get the minutes against UConn. You know the coach will shrink the lineup.
Even without Samuelson, UConn has not missed a beat. They had a 29 point lead in the fourth
quarter before UCLA closed the gap to 18 later in the fourth quarter.
A familiar face, Taya Reimer, is the leading scorer for the Spartans. They have had the luxury of being able to play the entire roster because of the easy schedule. Eleven players had 14+ minutes per game with a high of 25 minutes. Because of that, the scoring is all spread out making it impossible for me to know who will get the minutes against UConn. You know the coach will shrink the lineup.
UConn Overview
UConn is coming off a great win on the road against UCLA, beating the Bruins 78-60. They also won 97-72 over No. 15 Maryland, over then No. 10 Stanford 82-47 and over then No. 20 California 82-47. Even without Samuelson, UConn has not missed a beat. They had a 29 point lead in the fourth
quarter before UCLA closed the gap to 18 later in the fourth quarter.
UConn only played 6 players in the UCLA game but don't expect that in this game. I expect UConn to go a little deeper and if they have a big lead everyone will play.
Comparative Team Statistic
UConn Michigan
State
State
83.8 PPG 99.8
55.0 Defensive PPG 56.0
55.0 Defensive PPG 56.0
28.8 Scoring Margin 43.8
46.8 Field Goal % 46.2
35.8 Defensive FG% 34.6
35.8 Defensive FG% 34.6
37.1 Three Point % 30.4
25.0 Defensive 3PT% 31.1
73.0 Free Throw % 69.3 25.0 Defensive 3PT% 31.1
41.8 Rebounds/game 57.0
18.3 Assists per game 21.8
15.8 Turnover per game 15.5
1.2 Assists/TO ratio 1.4
11.5 Steals per game 14.3
3.8 Blocks per game 5.0
Take these stats with a grain of salt. For one, it's only four games. Two, UConn has played four ranked teams and UCLA has played all cupcakes.
Min - 4.7, FG% .000, 3PT% .000, FT% .000, 0 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 0 apg, 0 blk, 0 stls
UCONN
UConn Starters
24 Napheesa Collier
6'1" Junior Forward/Guard
MPG - 30.3, FG% .500, 3PT% .400, FT% .750, 14.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 2.8 apg, 2 blks, 11 stls
15 Gabby Williams
5'11" Senior Forward
MPG - 28.0, FG% .571, 3PT% .000, FT% .636%, 11.8 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 3.3 apg, 2 blks, 13 stls
11 Kia Nurse
6' Senior Guard
Min - 32.5, FG% .429%, 3PT% .467, FT .765%, 12.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1 blks, 3 stl
5 Crystal Dangerfield
5'5" Sophomore Guard
MPG - 31.3, FG% .500, 3PT% .619, FT% .727%, 16.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 4.3 apg, 0 blks, 5 stls
23 Azura Stevens
6'6" Senior Forward/Guard
MPG - 23.3, FG% .486, 3PT% .167, FT .625%, 10.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 2.5 apg, 7 blks, 5 stls
UConn Bench
3 Megan Walker
6'1" Freshman Guard/Forward
Min - 20.3 FG% .414, 3PT% .333, FT% .800, 7.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.3 apg, 2 blk, 3 stls
2 Andra Espinoza-Hunter
5'11" Freshman Guard
Min - 9.3, FG% .400, 3PT% .400, FT% .000, 2 ppg, .3 rpg, .3 apg, 0 blk, 1 stls
10 Molly Bent
5'9" Sophomore Guard
Min - 8, FG% .333, 3PT% .000, FT% .000, .7 ppg, 0 rpg, 0 apg, 0 blk, 0 stls
25 Kyla Irwin
6'2" Sophomore Forward
Min - 7.0, FG% .000, 3PT% .000, FT% .000, 0 ppg, .3 rpg, 0 apg, 0 blk, 1 stls
4 Mikayla Coombs
5'8" Freshman GuardMin - 4.7, FG% .000, 3PT% .000, FT% .000, 0 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 0 apg, 0 blk, 0 stls
34 Alexi Gordon
6' Freshman Guard
Min - 1.7, FG% .000, 3PT% .000, FT% .000, 0 ppg, .3 rpg, 0 apg, 0 blk, 0 stls
Out for the Game
33 Katie Lou Samuelson
6'3" Junior Guard/Forward
MPG - 23, FG% .455, 3PT% .250, FT% .917, 16.51 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1 blk, 4 stls
Michigan State
Head Coach
Suzy Merchant
Heading into her second decade at the helm of the Michigan State women’s basketball team, Suzy Merchant’s success is undeniable. Entering her 11th season as head coach of the MSU women’s basketball program, Merchant has proven to be one of the best coaches in Michigan State history and a force in the Big Ten Conference. Through her first 10 seasons, Merchant has brought the Spartan program to the upper echelon at the Big Ten and national level. The Spartans have finished third or better in the Big Ten in eight of the last 10 seasons, and her conference record of 111-59 (65.3%) is in the top-12 career winning percentage in the 34-year history of the Big Ten and is the third-highest percentage among active coaches. The Spartans have won at least 20 games in nine of her 10 seasons.
Last season, Michigan State reached the NCAA Tournament with a 21-12 record, including going 9-7 in Big Ten action. The year was filled with more record-breaking performances as Jankoska became the first Spartan to score over 2,000 points. Four Spartans were honored with All-Big Ten honors. Jankoska was named first-team All-Big Ten, while Branndais Agee, Taya Reimer and Taryn McCutcheon were named to the honorable mention squad. Once again, Michigan State continued to fill the Breslin Center, finishing eighth in the nation and first in the Big Ten in attendance, averaging 6,011 fans per game.
Michigan State Starters
32 Taya Reimer
6'4" Senior Forward
MPG - 21.4, FG% .722, 3PT% .333, FT% 1.000%, 15.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 3.0 apg, 4 blks, 0 stls
10 Branndais Agee
6' RS Senior Forward
6' RS Senior Forward
MPG - 24.5, FG% .513, 3PT% .357, FT% .625%, 13.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1 blks, 7 stls
0 Shea Colley
5'9" RS Sophomore Guard
5'9" RS Sophomore Guard
MPG - 25.0, FG% .425, 3PT% .286, FT% .538%, 10.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 4.0 apg, 0 blks, 10 stls
4 Taryn McCutcheon
5'5" Sophomore Guard
MPG - 25.0, FG% .407, 3PT% .278, FT% .875%, 8.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 4.5 apg, 1 blks, 9 stls
33 Jenna Allen6'4" Junior Center
MPG - 15.8, FG% .516, 3PT% .167, FT% .000%, 8.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg, .8 apg,41 blks, 4 stls
Michigan State Bench
1 Sydney Cooks
6'4" Freshman Forward
MPG - 20.3, FG% .543, 3PT% .538, FT% .833%, 12.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg, .8 apg, 6 blks, 4 stls
32 Mardrekia Cook
6' Sophomore Forward
MPG - 14.0, FG% .423, 3PT% .000, FT% .600, 8.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg, .5 apg, 0 blks, 9 stls
24 Lexi Gussert
6' Senior Guard
6' Senior Guard
MPG - 16.0, FG% .222, 3PT% .158, FT% .667, 5.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.3 apg, 2 blks, 4 stls
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Game Analysis
Another tough game to figure out. For one, I have only seen highlights from each game for MSU and to try to use the stats to figure things out is difficult due to the weak opponents the Spartans have played in the first four games.
We all know 6'4" Taya Reimer, the Notre Dame transfer. She never gave UConn any problems while with The Irish and from what I have seen, she is still the same player. She has a decent little jumper and will block some shots, but she is not the biggest rebounder and is slow and plodding.
They also start down low, the 6'4" junior Jenna Allen. She has some nice post moves and a decent jumper, but she is just a little quicker than Reimer.
Between the two post players that start, I'm not sure who they will be able to cover. They are not quick enough to slow down Collier, Williams or even Stevens. All three will be able to drive by Reimer and Allen.
MSU starts three guards, 6' senior Agee, 5'5" McCutcheon and 5'9" Colley. I really like Agee's game. Strong and pretty quick, she has the ability to get off her shot. She will probably defend Williams. McCutcheon is going to match up with Dangerfield. Both are 5'5" but McCutcheon is no match for Dangerfield. Crystal is way too quick for her and I don't see McCutcheon get her shot off too often. Colley is a terrific player and it will be Nurse's job to slow her down.
I have NO idea who will be coming off the bench so I picked three players that seemed likely. I also matched up player to player, but I don't know if they will play any zone or even all zone. I just haven't seen enough and highlight reals only go so far in analyzing a team.
But I do know what UConn will do.
UConn will do what it has done all season long. Defend the hell out of the ball and run as much as possible. Like I said, Reimer and Allen will be left in the dust off of a UConn defensive rebound or a UConn steal. Position by Position, UConn looks to be quicker. The forward will take the slower defenders outside and make plays from there.
I would expect UConn to get plenty of open threes with their excellent ball movement. The question will be at what rate will they hit them. Nurse was cold. But she is rarely cold in back to back games. And any day I expect Stevens to find her range and hit 3 or 4. Maybe this game.
Final Prediction
MSU has seen four cupcakes and that can lull you into a false sense of self worth when you come up against a team as good as UConn. It can be a shock to the system. That is what I think will happen. MSU won't know what hit them.
UConn will get a chance to play it's subs more and that might keep the score down, but after playing four ranked teams, the Huskies will explode. That being said, UConn could also be lulled by not playing a ranked team and underperform for some of the game.
Either way, UConn wins easily. Probably by 35+ points.
UConn will get a chance to play it's subs more and that might keep the score down, but after playing four ranked teams, the Huskies will explode. That being said, UConn could also be lulled by not playing a ranked team and underperform for some of the game.
Either way, UConn wins easily. Probably by 35+ points.
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