UCONN vs DePaul
Day: Friday
Date: December 8th, 2017
Location: Wintrust Arena
Time: 7:00
TV: Fox Sports 1
No. 1 UConn Huskies DePaul Blue Demons
7-0 6-2
Prior Meetings
Prior Meetings
UConn 14 DEPAUL 1
H: 7-0; A: 5-0; N: 2-1
12/28/83 L 64-70 N (Pre-Geno)
1/28/06 W 84-75 A
3/6/06 W 69-57 N
1/24/07 W 88-76 H
3/1/08 W 77-76 A
3/9/08 W 86-67 N
1/13/09 W 77-62 H
2/10/10 W 95-62 A
2/5/11 W 89-66 H
1/21/12 W 89-44 A
2/10/13 W 91-44 H
3/10/13 W 94-61 H
12/19/14 W 98-64 H
12/2/15 W 86-70 A
12/1/16 W 91-46 H
12/2/15 W 86-70 A
12/1/16 W 91-46 H
Highlights from last years game
Last season, DePaul came into Storrs at 5-1 and ranked 15th in the country. I had a bad feeling about this game and predicted a UConn 10 point win. The Blue Demon's long range shooting and senior leadership made them what I thought to be a formidable opponent. Oops.
UConn made mince meat out of DePaul with one of the most dominating 1st quarters in their history. Just watch the highlights I posted and you will see what I mean. UConn ran out to a 37-6 lead after 10 minutes. Wow.
The Huskies were led by Kia Nurse, who was 6-9 on threes and scored a career high 33 points. Katie Lou Samuelson added 16 points on 4-6 three point shooting. The big story was the UConn defense, who held DePaul to 17-68 for 25% from the field and 7-40 on threes. Yes, DePaul took 40 threes.
Overview
DePaul comes into this game at 6-2 on the season and unranked. But it is a typical Doug Bruno team. High scoring and great passing team that makes a ton of threes.
The Blue Demons started the season ranked at No. 25 but lost their first game of the season to a decent Northern Colorado team 94-88. They bounced back in their second outing with a hard fought overtime win against then No. 21 Oklahoma 111-108. They then beat Delaware State 110-71 and Saint. Louis 86-78 before losing a tough overtime game to an always good Florida Gulf Coast team 89-84. They then went on to win their last three games, 81-67 over Memphis, 88-71 over Gonzaga and 88-47 over Loyola-Chicago.
UConn is coming off an amazing comeback victory over Notre Dame winning 80-71. They are still undefeated at 7-0 and boy did the Huskies show some intestinal fortitude in that game.
Katie Lou looked to sprain her ankle, the same foot that she injured a few weeks ago. She missed almost all of the 4th quarter. Gabby Williams sat the entire second half with migraines. The questions about Williams and Samuelson's health will be there until game time.
Comparative Team Statistics
UConn DePaul
85.6 PPG 92.0
60.3 Defensive PPG 78.1
60.3 Defensive PPG 78.1
25.3 Scoring Margin 13.9
50.5 Field Goal % 43.7
36.0 Defensive FG% 44.9
36.0 Defensive FG% 44.9
39.2 Three Point % 36.5
29.6 Defensive 3PT% 27.6
70.4 Free Throw % 72.529.6 Defensive 3PT% 27.6
41.1 Rebounds/game 37.9
6.1 Rebounding Margin -2.5
20.7 Assists per game 22.8
14.4 Turnover per game 13.5
1.4 Assists/TO ratio 1.7
11.1 Steals per game 10.9
4.3 Blocks per game 2.9
UCONN
Min - 4.7, FG% .000, 3PT% .000, FT% .000, 0 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 0 apg, 0 blk, 0 stls
UConn Starters
24 Napheesa Collier
6'1" Junior Forward
MPG -32.0, FG% .471, 3PT% .333, FT% .813, 14.1 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 3.3 apg, 11 blks, 19 stls
15 Gabby Williams
5'11" Senior Forward
MPG - 27.3, FG% .541, 3PT% .000, FT% .643, 10.7 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 3.4 apg, 2 blks, 19 stls
11 Kia Nurse
6' Senior Guard
Min - 32.9, FG% .594%, 3PT% .606, FT .778, 15.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.9 apg, 1 blks, 5 stls
5 Crystal Dangerfield
5'5" Sophomore Guard
MPG - 33.6, FG% .461, 3PT% .472, FT% .692%, 13.7 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 5.1 apg, 0 blks, 14 stls
33 Katie Lou Samuelson
6'3" Junior Guard/Forward
MPG - 24.7, FG% .469, 3PT% .333, FT% .850, 17.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.0 apg, 2 blk, 6 stls
UConn Bench
23 Azura Stevens
6'6" Junior Forward
MPG - 25.9, FG% .573, 3PT% .158, FT .619, 14.6 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 3.3 apg, 12 blks, 8 stls
3 Megan Walker
6'1" Freshman Guard/Forward
Min - 17.6 FG% .417, 3PT% .273, FT% .545, 5.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.3 apg, 2 blk, 3 stls
32 Batouly Camara
6'2" Sophomore Forward
DNP
2 Andra Espinoza-Hunter
5'11" Freshman Guard
Min - 8.8, FG% .500, 3PT% .500, FT% .000, 3.5 ppg, .3 rpg, .3 apg, 0 blk, 1 stls
10 Molly Bent
5'9" Sophomore Guard
Min - 7.2, FG% .500, 3PT% .000, FT% .000, .8 ppg, .6 rpg, .2 apg, 0 blk, 1 stls
25 Kyla Irwin
6'2" Sophomore Forward
Min - 8.6, FG% .500, 3PT% .250, FT% .000, 1.4 ppg, .8 rpg, .6 apg, 0 blk, 1 stls
4 Mikayla Coombs
5'8" Freshman Guard
34 Alexi Gordon
6' Freshman Guard
Min - 1.5, FG% .000, 3PT% .000, FT% .000, 0 ppg, .3 rpg, 0 apg, 0 blk, 0 stls
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DePaul Blue Demon
DePaul Head Coach Doug Bruno
Geno gets to coach his team against another great longtime friend in Coach Bruno. For the second time, Bruno headed to the Olympics this time in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as an assistant coach to Geno. In 2012 and in 2016, Bruno helped the National Team to its fifth straight Olympic gold in London in the same role.
Over the last 15 seasons, Bruno has led the Blue Demons to 15 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and the program's first and second Sweet Sixteen showing in 2006 and advanced to the round of 16 again in 2011 and 2014.
Coach Bruno has been inducted into the DePaul Athletics Hall of Fame, the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame and the Illinois Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame.
Here is his full bio from the DePaul site. It really is worth the read.
Here is his full bio from the DePaul site. It really is worth the read.
DePaul Starters
10 Amarah Coleman
5'11" Senior Guard
Min - 23.6, FG% .468, 3PT% .474, FT% .600, 13.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 3.9 apg, 1 blk, 5 stls
1 Ashton Milender
5'6" Senior Guard
Min - 30.9, FG% .467, 3PT% .397, FT% .833, 15.4 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.4 apg, 0 blk, 6 stls
5'10" Junior Guard
Min - 28.6, FG% .359, 3PT% .304, FT% .684, 11.6 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 3.0 apg, 4 blk, 13 stls
5'10" Sophomore Guard
Min - 32.5, FG% .517, 3PT% .313, FT% .871, 12.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 5.1 apg, 3 blk, 14 stls
35 Mart'e Grays
6'2" Junior Forward
DePaul Stats
6'2" Junior Forward
Min - 23.6, FG% .422, 3PT% .405, FT% .750, 14.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.1 apg, 4 blk, 5 stls
DePaul Bench
22 Chante Stonewall
6'1" Sophomore Forward
Min - 18.5, FG% .576, 3PT% .579, FT% .615, 10.9 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.0 apg, 7 blk, 16 stls
5 Lauren Prochaska
5'8" Senior Guard
Min - 17.5, FG% .250, 3PT% .111, FT% 1.000, 1.6 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 2.5 apg, 2 blk, 9 stls
Game Analysis
DePaul is doing what they usually do in scoring a lot of points averaging 90+ points per game. I'm sure Bruno realizes his teams only chance to make a game of it is to make a lot of threes. The good news for DePaul is they take a lot of threes. All five starters average over four three point shots taken per same. They have ten players that are in double digit three-point shots taken. They have taken 299 three pointers so far this season. That's 37+ per game. And they have taken only 600 shots in total. Crazy! On the other hand, UConn averages only 21 per game.
As usual, DePaul is also one of the best passing teams in the country. Coach Bruno is an excellent offensive coach and his players do a great job valuing the ball. This year they have 182 assists, an average higher than UConn's at 22.8 per game. And they have only turned the ball over 13.5 times per game. There are not many teams that have a 1.7 assist/to ratio.
The question for DePaul is twofold. Can they hit their three point shots at a high percentage against UConn? Can they find a way to play enough defense to keep UConn under 80? Last year they pressed and pressed opponents, changing players quickly to keep them fresh. It really frazzled the UConn two years ago, but last year, UConn handled it with easy, taking a 37-6 lead after one quarter. the question is how will UConn handle the pressure this year? UConn needs to break the press cleanly and get easy looks at the basket.
DePaul pretty much has no inside presence with only 6'2" junior Marte's Grays over 6' tall in their rotation. They lost their two best players in point guard Jessica January and leading scorer guard Brooke Schulte and best post player in Jacqui Grant, their leading rebounder.
DePaul is able to create turnovers against most teams, but UConn has not been sloppy with the ball so I don't expect DePaul to have much success in doing that.
UConn's defense will have to work hard in preventing open three's. DePaul seems to find that open player. But UConn is the best at closing in on the open shooter with their amazing switching defense. DePaul will get some open looks. If they hit them at a high rate, DePaul can certainly make it close but I don't see how they can slow down this UConn offense.
Final Prediction
Last season I predicted a close game. I think it was a 10+ point win. Well, that + was a +++++. UConn hammered DePaul. And with the graduation of three top players with not as much talent to replace them, I don't see this being much closer. Although the game is at DePaul, I think UConn should run away with this one.
UConn by 35+.
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