Doggydaddy's Den: Doggy's Doghouse 2/16/18

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Days until Florida!!!!

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My apologies to any Michigan fans out there. I called them the Spartans in my blog yesterday and of course, they are the Wolverines.

Image result for michigan wolverines basketball logo

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Wow...what a crazy night in the WCBB top 25!!!

No. 10 Maryland, who had been on quite the roll winning 20 of their last 21 games, was upset by unranked Purdue 75-65. I'm sure Brenda blew a gasket! Purdue now has four top 25 wins although some of those teams are no longer in the top 25. Oh yeah, Maryland was at home.

In a game that makes my buddie David in Naples very happy, No. 17 Duke lost to Syracuse 68-65. While I am no fan of Duke, I like Syracuse a lot less so I'm not that happy. The Cuse won on a late three point basket that broke the 65-65 tie. Maybe next time they both can lose?

No. 19 Green Bay had an 11 game winning streak broken with a 71-60 loss to Cleveland State. In a scoring anomaly, Cleveland State had two starters that went scoreless and three starters that scored 21 points. I wonder how this impacts Green Bay's NCAA seeding or even ability to be an at large team? Can they miss the tournament if they don't win their conference tourney?

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I'm saving the best upset for last. After beating Alabama 44 consecutive times, No. 11 Tennessee has now lost to the Crimson Tide four straight times, with the Lady Vols losing to Alabama for the first time at Thompson Boiling Arena.

Tennessee was beaten 72-63 in a game that Tennessee basically fell apart in the fourth quarter and was never able to recover.

Tennessee took an early lead, holding Alabama to 8 first quarter points while scoring 15 of their own. And it was 24-17 Tennessee before Alabama ran off the final 12 points of the second quarter to take a 29-24 lead. I'm sure at that point the Tennessee fans and coaching staff were feeling a bit uneasy.

I guess Holly had a good talk with the team, telling them to rebound rebound rebound and run run run and all the other stuff she repeats and repeats because the Lady Vols had a great quarter, scoring 25 points and taking a 49-44 lead going into the four quarter. The smallish orange crowd of 8,432 started to feel it, giving the team a big cheer at the end of the quarter.

Then the fourth quarter happened. For some reason, Holly took out Nared, Russell and Westbrook, three starters and put in Kushkituah, Greene and Hayes, three bench players two of which don't get many minutes. Was it overconfidence? Greene committed two quick fouls and Holly took all three out and put the starters back in. But it didn't matter. Alabama ran off 12 points to start the quarter, taking a 56-49 point lead. Tennessee missed it's first 8 shots of the quarter and had two turnovers and at the 3:29 mark it was 60-50. Yes, it was a 16-1 run by Alabama on Tennessee's home court to start the fourth quarter. Tennessee was never able to close the gap in the last 3 minutes as the Lady Vols had to foul and Alabama made enough to win.

This leaves Tennessee with a 20-5 record. Not bad in the big picture. But this is a strange Tennessee team. They won their first 15 games, lost 4 of 6, then won 4 in a row before this really bad loss against Alabama. How bad? The Lady Vols were favored by 17 points. Now they go on the road to play a tough Missouri team. With the regression of their freshman point guard, Westbrook, only the game against Florida looks like a likely win.

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By David in Naples!!!!!

UConn's best free throw shooter, right now, is Kia Nurse at 80.3% (57-71). She is not in first place by much, as Katie Lou (51-64) and Azura (47-59) are right behind her at 79.7%. The next two Huskies in free throw % are close as well with Napheesa (50-64) at 78.1% and Crystal (17-22) at 77.3%. Gabby brings up the rear, but not by much (34-48) at 70.8%. Megan Walker is at 75% for her 40 attempts (30-40).

As a team, UConn has taken 400 free throws, making 305 for a shooting % of 76.3%. Opponents take a lot fewer free throws and make even less (155-229) at 67.7%. So the Huskies have made almost twice the number of free throws as their opponents, 305 vs 155. That works out to 6 points per game over 25 games. The balance for the Huskies in made free throws is telling. Consider:

Made free throwsKia 57
Katei Lou 51
Pheesa 50
Azura 47
Gabby 34
Megan 30

The two biggest surprise in the free throw stats is Crystal only trying 22 and Kyla going 2-7 for 28.6%. Crystal must be so fast oponents can't touch her..!

Go Huskies..!!

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