UCONN vs Memphis
Day: Sunday
Date: December 31st, 2017
Location: XL Center
Time: 1:30
TV: SNY/ESPN3
No. 1 UConn Huskies Memphis Tigers
10-0 5-8
Prior Meetings
Prior Meetings
Head to Head games
UConn leads the series 7-0
1/4/14 W 90-49 A
1/22/14 W 83-49 H
2/7/15 W 80-34 A
2/28/15 W 87-24 H
1/13/16 W 86-46 A
1/30/16 W 83-40 H
2/25/17 W 91-48 H
Highlights from last years game
Overview
Memphis is coming into Hartford on a four game winning streak. And they beat an SEC team in the process. But before that they had lost eight consecutive games after winning their opener. I don't think any of that matters coming into this game. Memphis is just one of the several overmatched teams when they play UConn.
UConn is looking better and better as they regained their health. They are coming off a well played game in their destruction of Duquesne in their last outing. It's been a long OOC schedule for the Huskies and I'm sure they are happy to be home against a weaker AAC member.
UConn is looking better and better as they regained their health. They are coming off a well played game in their destruction of Duquesne in their last outing. It's been a long OOC schedule for the Huskies and I'm sure they are happy to be home against a weaker AAC member.
Comparative Team Statistics
UConn Memphis
89.4 PPG 60.2
60.7 Defensive PPG 70.1
60.7 Defensive PPG 70.1
28.7 Scoring Margin -9.9
52.5 Field Goal % 40.6
35.3 Defensive FG% 42.7
35.3 Defensive FG% 42.7
41.7 Three Point % 30.5
29.8 Defensive 3PT% 33.2
72.5 Free Throw % 68.229.8 Defensive 3PT% 33.2
42.2 Rebounds/game 36.2
8.3 Rebounding Margin .-.4
22.7 Assists per game 12.2
14.6 Turnover per game 20.3
1.6 Assists/TO ratio .6
9.8 Steals per game 6.8
4.9 Blocks per game 2.2
UCONN
11 Kia Nurse
4 Mikayla Coombs
5'8" Freshman Guard
Min - 4.4, FG% .333, 3PT% .000, FT% .000, .6 ppg, .4 rpg, .3 apg, 0 blk, 2 stls
UConn Starters
24 Napheesa Collier
6'1" Junior Forward
MPG -31.0, FG% .508, 3PT% .308, FT% .696, 15.2 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 3.2 apg, 18 blks, 21 stls
15 Gabby Williams
5'11" Senior Forward
MPG - 26.9, FG% .538, 3PT% .000, FT% .714, 10.1 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 4.5 apg, 5 blks, 25 stls
11 Kia Nurse
6' Senior Guard
Min - 33.5, FG% .600%, 3PT% .558, FT .840, 16.4 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 2.7 apg, 4 blks, 7 stls
5 Crystal Dangerfield
5'5" Sophomore Guard
MPG - 32.9, FG% .474, 3PT% .510, FT% .692%, 12.6 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 5.2 apg, 0 blks, 17 stls
33 Katie Lou Samuelson
6'3" Junior Guard/Forward
MPG - 28.8, FG% .532, 3PT% .514, FT% .786, 20.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.8 apg, 2 blk, 7 stls
UConn Bench
23 Azura Stevens
6'6" Junior Forward
MPG - 24.3, FG% .598, 3PT% .182, FT .714, 14.6 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 3.3 apg, 18 blks, 10 stls
3 Megan Walker
6'1" Freshman Guard/Forward
Min - 17.5 FG% .400, 3PT% .250, FT% .615, 5.4 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.3 apg, 2 blk, 4 stls
32 Batouly Camara
6'2" Sophomore Forward
Min - 2.5, FG% .000, 3PT% .000, FT% .000, 0.0 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 0.0 apg, 0 blk, 0 stls
2 Andra Espinoza-Hunter
5'11" Freshman Guard
Min - 7.0, FG% .385, 3PT% .364, FT% .000, 2.0 ppg, .1 rpg, .1 apg, 0 blk, 2 stls
10 Molly Bent
5'9" Sophomore Guard
Min - 5.6, FG% .500, 3PT% .000, FT% .000, .8 ppg, .4 rpg, .4 apg, 0 blk, 1 stls
25 Kyla Irwin
6'2" Sophomore Forward
Min - 7.8, FG% .583, 3PT% .200, FT% .000, 1.9 ppg, 1.1 rpg, .5 apg, 0 blk, 2 stls
4 Mikayla Coombs
5'8" Freshman Guard
34 Alexi Gordon
6' Freshman Guard
Min - 1.8, FG% .000, 3PT% .000, FT% .000, 0 ppg, .2 rpg, 0 apg, 0 blk, 0 stls
*******************************************************************
Here is her Bio
Memphis Starters
10 Cheyenne Creighton
6'1" Junior Forward
MPG 36.3, FG% .469, 3PT% .333, FT% .593, PPG 15.5, RPG 9.3, APG .6
05 Brea Elmore
5'9" Junior Guard
MPG 31.9, FG% .360, 3PT% .377, FT% .750, PPG 13.0, RPG 4.1, APG 2.4
15 Taylor Barnes
5'8" Sophomore Guard
MPG 31.6, FG% .326, 3PT% .286, FT% .707, PPG 7.8, RPG 2.9, APG 2.8
01 Breigha Wilder-Chochran
5'9" RS Senior Guard
MPG 27.1, FG% .364, 3PT% .000, FT% .739, PPG 3.4, RPG 4.8, APG 3.7
25 Brianna Porter
6'3" Junior Forward
MPG 23.8, FG% .650, 3PT% .000, FT% .500, PPG 7.0, RPG 4.5, APG .5
Memphis Bench
00 Jada Stinson
5'8" Freshman Guard
MPG 22.5, FG% .355, 3PT% .294, FT% .688, PPG 6.3, RPG 1.8, APG 1.8
33 Alana Davis
6'2" Freshman Forward
MPG 12.9, FG% .581, 3PT% .000, FT% .667, PPG 5.2, RPG 3.0, APG .3
35 Jasmine James
6'2" Junior Forward
MPG 20.8, FG% .422, 3PT% .000, FT% .600, PPG 4.6, RPG 4.5, APG .2
Game Analysis
Memphis is just not a very good team. I really can't add much more than that, but I will try! I did see some of their play via highlights so take a lot of this with a grain of salt. The bottom line is in the prediction area.
On defense, Memphis primarily plays both a 2-1-2 zone and a 3-2 zone, mixing them up to try to confuse the offense. On the inbound passes after a make or on a defensive rebound by the opponent, they use on the ball pressure to try to disrupt the initial offense before slipping back into the zone.
It's not a bad zone. They do work pretty well together. But it has gaps that UConn will exploit and with crisp ball movement, there will be open threes as well.
On offense, Memphis plays an inside out game, working the ball to their one inside threat, Bira Elmore. Cheyenne Creighton, their senior leading scorer was more of a three point threat last season, but is playing mostly inside. She gets to the line several times a game but unfortunately she only shoots 55% from the foul line. Their guards like to drive to the basket and then kick out to open players. They only take a dozen or so threes a game and it's probably a good thing as they only shoot 30% from beyond the arc. Mostly when they get the ball on the outside, they set screens and try to get the ball handler to the rim.
UConn will pick apart the zone as best as they can and find all those open gaps I talked about. With the terrific ball movement that they show, the Huskies will hit the gaps and kick out to open shooters.
Defensively, UConn will pressure Memphis into many mistakes. They aren't a very good ball handling team as they have over 100 more turnovers than assists and that is only after 13 games. I expect UConn for create 20+ turnovers. Memphis doesn't have the size to cause problems on offense nor the shooters to make UConn pay if they do leave them open occasionally.
Final Prediction
Last season, Memphis was a surprise team in the AAC ending up fourth in the conference. This year, the surprise is how poorly Memphis started the season. But they are on a four game winning streak beating SEC team Vanderbilt on the road. So, have they fixed something? It doesn't matter. It's just a bad matchup for Memphis. Really bad.
UConn by 45+.
No comments:
Post a Comment