No. 8 UConn Huskies No. 20 Maryland 1-1 1-1
Date: Thursday
November 16th, 2023
Storrs, Connecticut
Time: 6:30
TV: FS1
Prior Meetings
MARYLAND | UCONN LEADS
7-1 H: 2-0 | A: 2-1 | N: 3-0
12/03/12 #2 UConn 63, #9 Maryland 48 Hartford, Conn.
03/30/13 #3 UConn 76, #12 Maryland 50 Bridgeport, Conn.
11/15/13 #1 UConn 72, #8 Maryland 55 College Park, Md.
04/05/15 #1 UConn 81, #4 Maryland 58 Tampa, Fla.
12/28/15 #1 UConn 83, #6 Maryland 73 New York, N.Y.
12/29/16 #1 UConn 87, #4 Maryland 81 College Park, Md.
11/19/17 #1 UConn 97, #15 Maryland 72 Hartford, Conn.
12/11/22 #6 UConn 78, #20 Maryland 85 College Park, Md.
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Maryland Season to Date
Maryland won their first game of the season against Harvard 98-75 and then were blown out on the road against No. 6 (Soon to be much higher) South Carolina 114-76. If you thought UConn's loss to NC State was bad then you didn't watch this game. Yes the Gamecocks are a very good team but Maryland lost by 38 points. The game got real ugly after a close first quarter. And worse, their best player injured her ankle and had to leave the game in the fourth quarter.
Maryland vs Harvard Highlights
Maryland at South Carolina Highlights
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Comparative Team Statistics
(leader in bold)
UConn Maryland
91.5 PPG 87.0
75.0 Defensive PPG 94.5
16.5 Scoring Margin -7.5
48.3 Field Goal % 47.8
42.9 Defensive FG% 42.9
37.0 Three Point % 46.3
36.8 Defensive 3PT% 33.3
73.3 Free Throw % 71.9
39.0 Rebounds/game 40.0
2.0 Rebounding Margin -6.5
19.0 Assists per game 19.0
10.0 Turnover per game 16.5
1.9 Assists/TO ratio 1.2
9.0 Steals per game 7.0
3.0 Blocks per game 2.5
It's only two games so the stats don't mean much. Certainly Maryland's numbers are skewed by their bad loss to South Carolina.
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UCONN
The player and coaches names for both teams
are clickable to see their Bios
are clickable to see their Bios
UConn Starters
UConn Injuries
Day to Day
OUT FOR THE SEASON
Achilles Injury
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Maryland Starters
Game Analysis
Last year Maryland upset UConn at home, winning 85-78 behind 20 points from Abbey Meyers and 19 points from Shyanne Sellers. Diamond Miller added 18 points. It was the worst game of the season in regards to the injury situation. UConn was without Fudd, Juhasz and Muhl. Bravely Bettencourt played 29 minutes at point guard. It was amazing how close UConn kept the game. One bad quarter was the difference as Maryland outscored UConn 28-17 in the second quarter. You can watch the hightlights below if you'd like.
Last year the Terps had leading scorer 6'3" senior Diamond Miller, second leading scorer and best shooter 6' Abbey Meyers. Those two will clearly be missed.
Once again Maryland starts what looks like 5 guards. At least according to their team roster. But they are all big, 6' or more. And they have some amazing experience. Four grad students in the starting lineup. Crazy.
Here are the starters.
6'2" Junior Shyanne Sellers is now the best player on the team and is their leading scorer. She is averaging 22.0 PPG and 6 RPG. And she leads the team in assists with 5 per game. A terrific player she can drive to the basket with authority and can step back and hit the three ball. She is 5-9 on threes so far this season.
6' Junior Brinae Alexander is the second leading scorer on the team at 12.5 PPG. She is the best three point shooter percntage wise at 50.0% going 7-14 on the season. She gets her shots, averaging 7 three pointers taken per game.
6' Grad Student Jakia Brown-Turner is third on the team in scoring and a good rebounder at her height. Ironically she is a transfer from North Carolina State, the team that just beat UConn. Hopefully any mojo from that stayed in North Carolina. She is averaging 11.5 PPG.
6'1" Grad Student Faith Masonius is a decent rebounter The is the closest thing that Maryland has to a post player. She is averaging 8.5 PPG and 3.5 RPG. She is shooting a team high 57% from the field.
6'1" Grad Student Lavender Briggs. She is the weak link offesnviely shooting only 3-12 from the field, but will contribute with her on the ball defense.
The bench is only two players that will contribute in this game.
5'10" Sophomore Bri McDaniel is their firepower off the bench. She doesn't shoot a lot of threes, but she makes a high percentage of them. In her freshman season she was 12-24 from deep and this year she hasn't missed going 3-3 on the season.
6'2" Red Shirt Junior Allie Kubek is their "big" coming off the bench. She transfered in from Towson and sat out last season. She played very well for Towson but as she is finding out, big time Div I basketball is a different animal.
So, all that being said, how will these teams, coming off tough losses, bounce back from their previous games?
Maryland's problem is they are even a smaller team than UConn. Yes, they have big guards but UConn's guards are not small. If Geno stays with the same starting lineup, Ducharme and Edwards should have an advantage in the paint. My guess is that UConn forces the Terps to double up on Edwards down low opening up the outside shooting.
Also, Maryland is not a great ball handling team so look for the Huskies to pressure up and down the court.
Maryland is hitting a really high percentage of their three point shots. 46.3%! And they will have to continue to do that against UConn or they will find it tough going to put points on the board.
Maryland was easily outrebounded by South Carolina in their last game. And UConn was outrebounded by 12 in their loss. It wil be important for both teams to improve on that.
Final Prediction
Well, I'll admit it. I'm a little gun shy on predicting a spread after my big point win for UConn against NCST went down in flames. But facts are facts and I refuse to believe the dazed and confused UConn team we saw in their last outing is the team we will see Thursday night.
UConn really has advantages all over the court. As the NCST game proved, year to year results always don't hold true. Last year Maryland beat UConn 85-78 with Diamond Miller and Abbey Meyers leading the way. Now both of those players graduated and was drafted second in the draft. Meyers was drafted 11th by Dallas. So two great players. Maryland brought in a transfer in Turner-Brown, but she is no Miller/Meyers. Otherwise it's the same group of players that played in the game last year.
UConn on the other hand, have Bueckers, Fudd, and Muhl back that didn't play in last years bame. And a solid freshman class.
Based on those factors and also UConn playing in a loud and motivating Gample Pavillion, I don't think we will see a close game. Now if UConn is still in a weak mental state from that last game, well, who knows. Maryland has an unknown as well. Sellers had to leave the South Carolina game with an ankle injury and she did not return. If she is out, well, turn out the lights, the party's over.
I'm betting on Geno and Paige getting this team on the right path and Maryland is going to feel the pain.
UConn by 15+.
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