UCONN vs UCLA
Day: Sunday
Date: Dec 21, 2014
Location: Mohegan Sun Arena
Time: 5:00
TV: ESPN2
Overview
11 Kia Nurse 6' Freshman Guard
As a freshman, Nurse is shooting an incredible 57% and 42%.
MPG 26.6, FG% .569, 3PT% .419, PPG 14.1, RPG 4.8, APG 3.1, 10 steals, 0
blocks
4 Moriah Jefferson 5'7" Junior Guard
Jefferson is really struggling from the field at 43% and 32%
MPG 26.4, FG% .435, 3PT% .318, PPG 8.9, RPG 2.1, APG 4.8, 16 steals, 2 block
23 Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis 5'11" Senior Forward
MPG 32.3, FG% .586, 3PT% .580, PPG 16.9, RPG 5.4, APG 2.3, 18 steals, 0 blocks
The bad news is that KML is shooting only a little better from the field than she is from 3 point land. The good news is those numbers are 58.6% and 58%.
3 Morgan Tuck 6'2" Sophomore Forward
Morgan has built her shooting percentage up every game and now it's 52%.
MPG 25.1, FG% .523, 3PT% .222, PPG 14.3, RPG 4.4, APG 3.1, 6 steals, 2 blocks
30 Breanna Stewart 6'4" Junior Forward
Stewarts numbers are rising, especially her 3 point shooting at a very nice 43%
MPG 30.8, FG% .525, 3PT% .433, PPG 17.5, RPG 7.3, APG 3.0, 11 steals, 8 blocks
41 Kiah Stokes 6'3" Senior Center
For as close as she shoots, Stokes should have a high percentage than 53%.
MPG 20.3, FG% .529, 3PT% .000, PPG 5.9, RPG 8.9, APG 1.3, 4 steals, 28 blocks
12 Saniya Chong 5'8" Sophomore Guard
When you look up shooting slump in the dictionary, Chong's picture is there. She is down to 43% and 32%.
MPG 21.6, FG% .432, 3PT% .323, PPG 6.5, RPG 2.5, APG 2.0, 5 steals, 2 blocks
15 Gabby Williams 5'11" Freshman Guard
70.6%, WOW! Do I have to say more? Her post skills are amazing for a player that came to UConn as a guard.
MPG 15.1, FG% .706, 3PT% .000, PPG 8.0, RPG 4.6, APG 0.7, 10 steals, 3 blocks
UConn Complete Stats
21 Nirra Fields 5'9" Junior Guard
2 Kari Korver 5'9" RS Sophomore Guard
Records UConn 7-1, UCLA 4-5
Overview
This is just the third all-time meeting between UCLA and UConn with the Huskies leading the series 2-0. The then No. 6/9 Bruins lost at then No. 1 Connecticut in the last meeting, a 106-64 setback on Dec. 23, 1999. The only other previous meeting was in the prior season as No. 2 UConn won in Los Angeles, 113-102, over No. 14/6 UCLA. This week’s meeting with Connecticut begins a four-game series with the Huskies. There will be no meeting next year (2015-16), but UConn will travel to Los Angeles in 2016-17 and 2017-18 and the Bruins will be at Connecticut in 2018-19. (From the UCLA Site)
UCLA signed the No. 1 recruiting class in the country, with three McDonald’s All-Americans, Reese Caldwell, Jordin Canada and Lajahna Drummer and with two other recruits ranked in the Top 30, Kelli Hayes and Monique Billings. Junior guard Nirra Fields is a former McD's players and a teammate of Kia Nurse on the Canadian National team.
Because if this outstanding class and Fields, expectations were high for UCLA this season. Boy, have they disappointed. They beat AAC bottom team Cincinnati and their other three wins have been against lower level teams. Kind of like UConn versus Holy Cross of years past. UC Riverside, Sacramento State and Samford. Three of the losses were to ranked teams, losing to UNC (84-68), Texas (75-65) and Nebraska (71-66). It appears that UCLA was pretty competitive in the Texas and Nebraska games.
UConn is coming off a great win against DePaul. Despite a slow start that seems to infuriate some fans, UConn dominated a very good DePaul team. That Stanford loss is looking more and more like a fluke but a fluke that has pushed the team to improve in several area. Mohegan Sun is a great place for UConn to play and they have had some great success there. Although they will be considered the visitor here and wearing their road blue, the fans will be loud for UConn and they won't be disappointed.
UConn is coming off a great win against DePaul. Despite a slow start that seems to infuriate some fans, UConn dominated a very good DePaul team. That Stanford loss is looking more and more like a fluke but a fluke that has pushed the team to improve in several area. Mohegan Sun is a great place for UConn to play and they have had some great success there. Although they will be considered the visitor here and wearing their road blue, the fans will be loud for UConn and they won't be disappointed.
11 Kia Nurse 6' Freshman Guard
As a freshman, Nurse is shooting an incredible 57% and 42%.
MPG 26.6, FG% .569, 3PT% .419, PPG 14.1, RPG 4.8, APG 3.1, 10 steals, 0
blocks
4 Moriah Jefferson 5'7" Junior Guard
Jefferson is really struggling from the field at 43% and 32%
MPG 26.4, FG% .435, 3PT% .318, PPG 8.9, RPG 2.1, APG 4.8, 16 steals, 2 block
23 Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis 5'11" Senior Forward
MPG 32.3, FG% .586, 3PT% .580, PPG 16.9, RPG 5.4, APG 2.3, 18 steals, 0 blocks
The bad news is that KML is shooting only a little better from the field than she is from 3 point land. The good news is those numbers are 58.6% and 58%.
3 Morgan Tuck 6'2" Sophomore Forward
Morgan has built her shooting percentage up every game and now it's 52%.
MPG 25.1, FG% .523, 3PT% .222, PPG 14.3, RPG 4.4, APG 3.1, 6 steals, 2 blocks
30 Breanna Stewart 6'4" Junior Forward
Stewarts numbers are rising, especially her 3 point shooting at a very nice 43%
MPG 30.8, FG% .525, 3PT% .433, PPG 17.5, RPG 7.3, APG 3.0, 11 steals, 8 blocks
UConn Bench
41 Kiah Stokes 6'3" Senior Center
For as close as she shoots, Stokes should have a high percentage than 53%.
MPG 20.3, FG% .529, 3PT% .000, PPG 5.9, RPG 8.9, APG 1.3, 4 steals, 28 blocks
12 Saniya Chong 5'8" Sophomore Guard
When you look up shooting slump in the dictionary, Chong's picture is there. She is down to 43% and 32%.
MPG 21.6, FG% .432, 3PT% .323, PPG 6.5, RPG 2.5, APG 2.0, 5 steals, 2 blocks
15 Gabby Williams 5'11" Freshman Guard
70.6%, WOW! Do I have to say more? Her post skills are amazing for a player that came to UConn as a guard.
MPG 15.1, FG% .706, 3PT% .000, PPG 8.0, RPG 4.6, APG 0.7, 10 steals, 3 blocks
UConn Complete Stats
UCLA Starters
HONORS: Was named to the All-Pac-12 Team by the coaches. PAC-12 STATISTICAL RANKS: All Games: 10th - Scoring (17.6 ppg); 10th - Rebounding (6.3 rpg); 5th - Steals (2.2 spg); 11th - 3-Point Field Goals Made (1.6); 15th - Defensive Rebounds (4.5 drpg) and 8th - Minutes Played Per Game (34.8). Pac-12 Games: 11th - Scoring (17.3 ppg); 14th - Free Throw Percentage (.707); 8th - Steals (1.8 spg); 10th - 3-Point Field Goals Made (1.6) and 15th - Blocks (0.7 bpg).
MPG 33.4, FG% .389, 3PT% .229, PPG 16.4, RPG 7.8, APG 1.6, 24 steals, 4 blocks
HONORS: Was named an honorable mention selection to the Pac-12’s All-Freshman Team by the coaches. PAC-12 STATISTICAL RANKS: All Games: 6th - 3-Point Field Goal Percentage (.343). Pac-12 Games: 4th - 3-Point Field Goal Percentage (.365), 9th - 3-Point Field Goals Made Per Game (1.5).
MPG 26.8, FG% .397, 3PT% .447, PPG 10.7, RPG 4.3, APG 1.9, 4 steals, 1 block
34 Corinne Costa 6'4" Senior Forward/Center
2013-14 HONORS: Was named an honorable mention selection to the Pac-12’s All-Defensive Team by the coaches. PAC-12 STATISTICAL RANKS: Rebounds: 13th (7.2 rpg); Blocks: 2nd (2.3 bpg); Offensive Rebounds Per Game: 14th (2.3 orpg); Defensive Rebounds Per Game: 14th (4.8 drpg).
MPG 22.9, FG% .581 3PT% .000, PPG 7.4, RPG 3.7, APG 1.7, 3 steals, 3 blocks
10 Kacey Swain 6'3" Senior Forward
Kacy Swain tore her right ACL at practice on Oct. 2, 2013 and missed the season due to a medical redshirt.
MPG 14.2, FG% .391, 3PT% .000, PPG 5.1, RPG 3.1, APG .1, 5 steals, 4 blocks
5 Reese Caldwell 5'8" Freshman Guard
Caldwell was ranked as one of the Top 10 players in the country by most recruiting services including No. 6 by Prospects Nation, No. 7 by PB Media, No. 9 by ESPN’s HoopGurlz and No. 19 by Full Court.
MPG 26.4, FG% .321, 3PT% .270, PPG 6.0, RPG 2.1, APG 2.9, 5 steals, 1 block
UCLA Bench
3 Jordin Canada 5'6" Freshman Guard
Canada was ranked as one of the Top 10 players in the country by most recruiting services including No. 4 by Prospects Nation, No. 6 by ESPN’s HoopGurlz, No. 7 by Full Court, No. 9 by BlueStar Media and No. 9 by PB Media.
MPG 26.3, FG% .339, 3PT% .214, PPG 8.4, RPG 5.0, APG 3.6, 17 steals, 0 blocks
11 Lajanha Drummer 6'1" Freshman Forward
Drummer was ranked as one of the Top 10 players in the country by most recruiting services including No. 8 by ESPN’s HoopGurlz and No. 10 by Prospects Nation, Full Court and PB Media.
MPG 15.1, FG% .489, 3PT% .000, PPG 6.6, RPG 4.4, APG 0.6, 5 steals, 3 blocks
25 Monique Billings 6'4" Freshman Forward
Billings was ranked as one of the Top 30 players in the country by most recruiting services including No. 17 by Prospects Nation, No. 20 by PB Media, No. 27 by Full Court and No. 37 by ESPN’s HoopGurlz. She participated in the USA Basketball Women’s U18 National Team Trials in May of 2014.
MPG 16.4, FG% .535, 3PT% .000, PPG 6.6, RPG 6.0, APG 0.2, 10 steals, 12 blocks
13 Luiana Luvilo 6'3" Senior Center
Last year Livulo played in 31 games while making 31 starts and averaging 25.7 minutes per game … she was one of four players to compete in every game and was the only Bruin to start in every contest where she averaged 4.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game
MPG 14.7, FG% .586, 3PT% .667, PPG 4.4, RPG 2.8, APG 1.1, 5 steals, 5 blocks
Game Analysis
While this is the first time in a long time these two teams are meeting, it won't be the last for a while. They take next year off before playing three consecutive years. What I will find interesting to watch is the growth of the UCLA freshman class compared to the UConn freshman class plus the transfer Butler. In their junior and senior years, I would expect both teams to be in the top of the rankings. Too much talent in those UCLA kids not to be there. For them, it will all come down to coaching. There have been grumblings out of Westwood, so their bright future is not guaranteed.
In this particular game, UCLA will be totally overmatched. They have competed well against a few ranked teams but this is a horse of a different color when you are playing UConn.
What UCLA does is have size. They start 6'4" and 6'3" players in Swain and Costa and bring in the two frosh forwards, Billings and Drumming along with 6'3" center Luvilo off the bench.
What they lack is the ability to shoot the ball. As a team they shoot 41.8% from the field and only 29.5% on three's. Their only reliable 3 point threat is their second leading scorer in Kori Korver (17-38). They don't handle the ball well with 126 assists and a whopping 171 turnovers.
UConn will be able handle the size in the post and the discrepancy between the teams in shooting ability will allow UConn to score and defend at a high level.
This one is an easy call. UConn will want to get out to a fast start to get the taste out of their mouths of past slow starts and to help the struggling UConn fans who focus on those things.
Fast start and continuous pressure will quickly put this game out of reach and a dominating 35+ point win for the Huskies.
In this particular game, UCLA will be totally overmatched. They have competed well against a few ranked teams but this is a horse of a different color when you are playing UConn.
What UCLA does is have size. They start 6'4" and 6'3" players in Swain and Costa and bring in the two frosh forwards, Billings and Drumming along with 6'3" center Luvilo off the bench.
What they lack is the ability to shoot the ball. As a team they shoot 41.8% from the field and only 29.5% on three's. Their only reliable 3 point threat is their second leading scorer in Kori Korver (17-38). They don't handle the ball well with 126 assists and a whopping 171 turnovers.
UConn will be able handle the size in the post and the discrepancy between the teams in shooting ability will allow UConn to score and defend at a high level.
Final Prediction
Fast start and continuous pressure will quickly put this game out of reach and a dominating 35+ point win for the Huskies.
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