Doggydaddy's Den: Doggy's Doghouse 3/6/18

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Even without Gabby Williams, UConn was able to clobber Cincinnati, winning 75- 21. This game was all about the UConn defense and boy were the dominant. After holding the Bearcats to 5 points in the first quarter, UConn shut out Cincinnati in the second quarter.

Offensively, UConn was led by a great effort from Azura Steven, who started in this game. She had 21 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks. She intimidated several more shots as well.

All you have to do is look at Cincinnati's stats to get the picture of this game. They were 8-58 from the field and 3-17 on threes. UGLY.

The best news was that Dangerfield looked fine on that sprained ankle and Williams was able to rest her hip by sitting out this one.

UConn was able to rest all the starters the entire fourth quarter and 10 players had double digit minutes. Compare that to the USF players who had four starters play 40 minutes each. I can't imagine how tired they are. Adrenaline will only take them so far in the Championship game Tuesday.

As a reminder, here is my UConn/South Florida pregame report from the second matchup.

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It's hard to believe, but there are some fans out there complaining about UConn's performance in the Cincinnati game, specifically about the play of the bench.

"Once again, UConn was outscored in the fourth quarter. Reno's remarked on that before as an indication that his bench is not producing. Once again, only one player managed to score off the bench: Walker. Even with all the minutes being given out, the bench can't produce, even against a mediocre AAC team. And that is very troubling."

When you win by 51 and are outscored in the fourth quarter, is there any way that matters? No. Reno? Who the hell is Reno? ....oh yeah, Geno. Another misstatement? Several other bench players scored. And Cincinnati is NOT a mediocre AAC team. at 19-11, and 10-6 in the conference, they are a team on the rise, not withstanding the beating UConn gave them. But UConn does that to a lot of teams.

I guess these idiots didn't read my blog yesterday where I showed how UConn's small but talented bench is better than any of the top 8 teams in the country.

With Williams out, the fact that Stevens was able to enter the starting rotation and give such a great effort is what a great bench does. Pick up the slack for an injured teammate.

Some of these "fans" are just miserable people and can't enjoy anything.

By David in Naples!!!!!

PART I

After the Tulane victory, UConn's record in the AAC is 99-0 in regular season games and 13-0 in the AAC tournament. With their record this year now 30-0, the Huskies have reached the 30 win mark 13 years in a row and 18 of the last 19 seasons. A win in tonight's game against Cincinnati will move UConn into their 5th straight AAC final. But first, the Bearcats...

The stats from the Tulane game featured lots of 7s and 4s. UConn's scoring was led by Napheesa with 7 baskets, Katie Lou with 7 baskets and Azura with, you guessed it, 7 baskets. Talk about balance. Collier also led the rebounders with 7 boards. Fours were plentiful too, with Crystal killing Tulane with 4-4 shooting from three-point range. Pheesa and Lou each went 4-4 from the charity stripe and Kia added 4 baskets and 4 rebounds. One bad 4 was Z getting 4 personal fouls, but finishing the night on the court. Gabby had 4 assists in her injury-shortened night, but the leading assist maker on the team was Napheesa with 5..!!

One final stat from the game, which features neither a 7 nor a 4. Kolby Morgan finished her career at Tulane as their all-time leading scorer. She was held in check early against UConn, but ended the game with 21 points on 18 shots. By comparison, Katie Lou also finished with 21 points, but took only 13 shots. Lou also had 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 0 turnovers. Can you say NPOY..? 8-)

Go Huskies..!!

PART II

I keep hearing that A'ja Wilson played "awesome" against Miss. State and was the reason they won. Let's look at her stats:

1. Wilson went 6-15 (40%) from the field and scored 16 points.
2. She made all 4 free throws and added 8 rebounds & 2 blocks.
3. A'ja had 1 assist and 2 turnovers & played 33 minutes.
4. The three guards for South Carolina all played 40 minutes. Harris scored 14 points on 12 shots. She also had 7 assists and 6 rebounds.
5. Jackson scored 11 points on 8 shots. She had 1 assist and 1 turnover.
6. Cliney had 6 points on 3 shots, 3 assists, and 5 rebounds.
7. Herbert-Harrigan, the 5th starter, had 13 points on 6 shots and added 5 rebounds.

Seems to me A'ja played well, but the other four starters were just as good, if not better. Just for fun, how did Katie Lou perform... Well, she had 21 points on 13 shots, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 three-pointers and 0 turnovers. That is clearly "more awesome" than A'ja..!

PART III

In their victory over UCF today, the USF coach played his four main players 40, 40, 40 and 40 minutes. That’s right, four players for the whole game..! And Tuesday they play UConn...😎

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