UCONN @ Memphis
Day: Saturday
Date: February 28th, 2015
Location: Storrs, CT
Time: 2:00
TV: CBS SN
UConn 27-1 (16-0)
Memphis 13-14 (7-9)
Head to Head
1/4/14 W 90-49 A
1/22/14 W 83-49 H
2/7/15 W 80-34 A
2/7/15 W 80-34 A
Overview
I will give proper kudos to these two wonderful young women after the game in my post game report. I'm just looking forward to seeing them get their honors and KML having her number put on the Wall of Fame!!
UConn announced that it will be offering a free live stream of the ceremony at this link http://www.uconnhuskies.com/
Anyone remember the first Memphis game? I seem to remember something different happening. Hmmm....oh yeah. Stewart and Tuck were benched after a few minutes in the game just before the South Carolina game. Now I remember.
Geno was clearly annoyed with them for their play early in that game. There were lots of reasons for a lack of focus. It had all the makings of a game the players would overlook. All they have heard all week is about the South Carolina game. Geno is not interested in reasons. They are only excuses.
Geno accomplished two things with the benching. He got the teams attention. They have played with more focus, energy and aggressiveness starting with the South Carolina game. At this point in the season we can look at the Stanford game as the first big turnaround in play and the Memphis game as the second.
Memphis is 2-2 since the last UConn game, beating Houston 64-58 and Central Florida 65-49 before losing close games to Tulane 75-65 and Tulsa 65-62.
UConn announced that it will be offering a free live stream of the ceremony at this link http://www.uconnhuskies.com/
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| Senior Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis |
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| Senior Kiah Stokes |
Anyone remember the first Memphis game? I seem to remember something different happening. Hmmm....oh yeah. Stewart and Tuck were benched after a few minutes in the game just before the South Carolina game. Now I remember.
Geno was clearly annoyed with them for their play early in that game. There were lots of reasons for a lack of focus. It had all the makings of a game the players would overlook. All they have heard all week is about the South Carolina game. Geno is not interested in reasons. They are only excuses.
After a few minutes of uninspired basketball, Geno pulled Stewart and Tuck. He eventually had on the floor Williams, Ekmark, Chong, KML and Jefferson. He subbed in Nurse but he always had Ekmark Chong and Williams on the court in the first half. Stewart and Tuck never saw the court again.
UConn started Jefferson, KML and Nurse along with Chong and Williams. The small lineup dominated the second half, running out to a 9-0 start before Memphis called a time out. UConn went on several runs, the largest a 19-0 run over a six minute period starting around the nine minute mark. And all of this was done without Stewart, Tuck or Stokes. UConn outscored Memphis 52-18 in the second half.
Geno accomplished two things with the benching. He got the teams attention. They have played with more focus, energy and aggressiveness starting with the South Carolina game. At this point in the season we can look at the Stanford game as the first big turnaround in play and the Memphis game as the second.
Memphis is 2-2 since the last UConn game, beating Houston 64-58 and Central Florida 65-49 before losing close games to Tulane 75-65 and Tulsa 65-62.
UConn is 5-0 since the last time they played Memphis, beating South Carolina, Tulane twice, Houston and Tulsa by an average score of 89-44. Geno has them progressing nicely to their tournament form. His rotation of players is crisp, the players have responded and they seem sure and supremely confident in themselves.
11 Kia Nurse 6' Freshman Guard
Nurse played 32 minutes against Memphis last time out with 18 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Since that game, Kia has really been as inconsistent as she has been all season. It certainly feels like the freshman wall has been hit. She is only 4-18 on threes in the last 5 games, and overall 16-40 which is only 40%. Thankfully, this young lady just keeps playing hard, it hasn't impacted her defense and I have no doubt she will bounce back from this slump soon.
2014-15: MPG 25.0, FG% .507, 3PT% .418, PPG 11.1, RPG 3.3, APG 3.1, 46 steals, 1 block
Jefferson player 32 minutes against Memphis the first time they met this season. 10 points, 3 assists, 2 steals. Not her best game, but she did what UConn needed with tough defense and running the offense. Moriah is coming off an eight steal game in her last outing.
2014-15: MPG 26.9, FG% .568, 3PT% .486, PPG 11.8, RPG 2.8, APG 4.6, 73 steals, 4 block
23 Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis 5'11" Senior Forward
KML had a solid game against Memphis the last time they met. With Tuck, Stewart and Stokes on the bench, she stepped up her post game, leading the team with 9 rebounds and playing excellent post defense. She scored 11 points and had 2 assists. She is 10-16 her last two games on threes and is on her way to being the all time three point shooter in history.
2014-15: MPG 28.0, FG% .529, 3PT% .512, PPG 14.2, RPG 4.2, APG 2.8, 30 steals, 5 blocks
3 Morgan Tuck 6'2" Sophomore Forward
I'm sure Tuck would like to forget about the last time UConn played Memphis. She played 4 minutes, scored 2 points. Geno made his point and Tuck has been terrific since then. What I find exciting is that she is finally shooting from behind the arc like we all knew she could, going 6-11 her last 5 games.
2014-15: MPG 24.6, FG% .574, 3PT% .245, PPG 13.6, RPG 5.3, APG 2.8, 24 steals, 10 blocks
30 Breanna Stewart 6'4" Junior Forward
I'm sure Stewart wants to forget this last matchup as well. She played 5 minutes, made a couple of baskets and that was it. But she has been playing like the POY that she is ever since then. She has averaged over 20 points a game the last 5 and has just dominated when she has been on the floor. Only her lost 3 point tough has diminished her bright star.
2014-15: MPG 26.8, FG% .537, 3PT% .297, PPG 16.9, RPG 6.7, APG 3.1, 45 steals, 66 blocks
UConn Bench
Stokes was the forgotten player in the benching of Stewart and Tuck. Kiah only played 8 minutes in that game and only contributed 2 blocks. She was scoreless and reboundless. And while Tuck and Stewart bounced back with great games, Stokes looks like it took a little steam out of her. She doesn't seem as aggressive and the numbers show that. Maybe Senior Night will inspire her.
2014-15: MPG 19.5, FG% .514, 3PT% .500, PPG 4.8, RPG 7.4, APG .8, 16 steals, 121 blocks
Chong benefited from the benching of Stewart, Tuck and Stokes in the first Memphis meeting. She scored 17 points going 4-5 on threes in 31 minutes. And since then, she has been just terrific off the bench. Her demeanor on the court is just different. So much more confident in everything she is doing.
2014-15: MPG 20.4, FG% .496, 3PT% .413, PPG 6.5, RPG 2.1, APG 2.1, 18 steals, 7 blocks
15 Gabby Williams 5'11" Freshman Guard
Williams had one of her best games against Memphis in the first outing against the Tigers. She played 31 minutes and had 16 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks. She just continues to get better and Geno has publically announced how much he thinks of her. High praise for a freshman.
2014-15: MPG 16.7 FG% .634, 3PT% .000, PPG 8.9, RPG 6.2, APG 1.4, 40 steals, 13 blocks
Ekmark got to play 17 minutes against Memphis in the first matchup. She scored only 2 points, but you could see the improvement in her play, intensity and smarts. She has carried that forward. She is 5-7 on three pointers in the last 3 games.
2014-15: MPG 11.9 FG% .327, 3PT% .258, PPG 2.4, RPG 1.7, APG 0.7, 6 steals, 0 blocks
UConn Complete Stats
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Memphis Starters
04 Ariel Hearn 5'7" Junior Guard
In the previous UConn game Hearn played 38 minutes, was 5-23 from the field, 1-9 on threes scoring 13 points and grabbing 7 rebounds. She will shoot and shoot often.
2014-15: MPG 33.9, FG% .381, 3PT% .341, PPG 16.2, RPG 4.5, APG 3.2, 51 steals, 12 blocks
In the previous UConn matchup, Rower was 4-16 from the field, 2-6 on threes scoring 10 points in 31 minutes.
2014-15: MPG 28.8, FG% .333, 3PT% .239, PPG 10.1, RPG 3.2, APG 1.2, 21 steals, 7 blocks
21 Asianna Fuqua-Bey 6'1" Junior Forward
Fuqua-Bey played 32 minutes against UConn in their last matchup. She grabbed a team high 8 rebounds while scoring 4 points.
2014-15: MPG 27.5, FG% .451 3PT% .000, PPG 8.3, RPG 6.8, APG 1.4, 32 steals, 14 blocks
22 Brianna Wright 6'1" Junior Forward
Wright played only 15 minutes scoring 4 points before fouling out.
2014-15: MPG 27.3, FG% .494, 3PT% .000, PPG 7.6, RPG 8.6 APG 0.9, 25 steals, 19 blocks
03 Taylor Williams 6'1" Sophomore Guard
Williams played 35 minutes in the last UConn matchup and really struggled going 1-6 from the floor, 1-4 on threes and scoring only three points with five turnovers.
2014-15: MPG 22.7, FG% .309, 3PT% .224, PPG 4.7, RPG 3.5, APG 1.3, 19 steals, 4 blocks
Memphis Bench
10 Cheyenne Creighton 6'1" Freshman Forward
Creighton, a freshman forward, played 31 minutes in the previous UConn matchup. She did grab 5 rebounds but was scoreless on 0-4 shooting.
2014-15: MPG 15.4, FG% .471, 3PT% .250, PPG 3.3, RPG 2.6, APG 0.4, 5 steals, 8 blocks
05 Brea Elmore 5'9" Freshman Guard
Elmore played only 13 minutes the last time these two teams met, but it's always a great experience for freshman to play against such a tough opponent. She was scoreless on 0-4 from the floor and 0-2 on threes.
2014-15: MPG 13.2, FG% .250, 3PT% .216, PPG 2.7, RPG 0.9, APG .8, 13 steals, 5 blocks
Game Analysis
I wrote my game analysis last time and then Geno just screwed me up with his benching. So, I'll use a lot of what I wrote earlier and hopefully, it matches up with who Geno puts on the court!
Memphis has four players over 6' that will see time. The problem is none of them are over 6'1". This should mean a big game for Stewart if she posts hard and Tuck should score at will as well. Memphis has one big scorer and she is a terrific player. Ariel Hearn was 1st team all AAC last year and leads Memphis in scoring at 16 ppg. But there are really no other threats and we all know what happens when UConn shuts down the top scorer. As we saw in the first matchup, she got her shots, she just didn't make many.
Memphis only takes around 14 three point shots per game. The problem is that they only make around 4 of them. UConn will not have to protect the perimeter except for not leaving Hearn open. She has taken almost 50% of their threes. She has a decent percentage from deep at 36%. Which means the rest of the team shoots 24%.
There are startling differences in the offensive numbers between the two teams.
UConn has seven out of their eight players shooting over 50% from the field with Chong the only one not there at 49%. Memphis has no one shooting over 50% from the field. They only have 3 players shooting over 40%. And they only have 1 players shooting better than Chong.
UConn has only one player with negative assist/turnover numbers, Stokes with 23 assists and 25 turnovers. Memphis has only one player that doesn't have negative assist/turnover numbers, Hearns with 87 assists and 81 turnovers.
Memphis is an average team with one really good player. UConn will do whatever they want. Another opportunity to fine turn things.
Final Prediction
You never know how a Senior night will turn out. Sometimes players are too tight and it takes a while to get things going. I think this team will not fall victim to nerves. I'd look for them to set up KML early to get her started to a big game, and Memphis not good enough to put enough pressure on UConn.
Last time was 80-34 in favor of UConn. My guess is both teams score more and it's more like 93-40.
So, I'll go with UConn by 50+.
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