Doggydaddy's Den: Doggy's Doghouse 1/19/19

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The Boys Love Their Pasta!!!!

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UConn had another slow start but easily handles Temple in an 88-67 win.

It was 9-8 Temple halfway through the first quarter when UConn turned it on with a typical UConn run. But who started the run was NOT typical. Geno put Olivia Nelson-Ododa in for Christyn Williams, who picked up two quick fouls and the 6'4" freshman came through. ODO hits three free throws and a short jumper for the Huskies next 5 points as UConn went on a 13-2 run for a 22-11 first quarter lead.

UConn added to the lead in the second quarter behind Collier and Dangerfield, who scored 18 of UConn's 20 points in the quarter. Molly Bent added the other basket. This gave UConn a nice 42-25 lead at the half.

The third quarter was unusual. UConn did score 24 points, but they allowed the Owls to score 25 points. Crazy. Temple was 9 of 14 from the field. This was in a game that UConn held them to 41% shooting from the field. Hey, sometimes a team gets hot and sometimes the defense gives up open looks. This was a combination of both. But UConn still went into the final quarter with a 66-50 lead.

In the fourth quarter, UConn continued to stretch out the lead behind 8 points from Dangerfield. UConn led 86-61 before Temple finished the game on a 6-2 run for the 88-67 final.

The shooting slump continued for most of the team, but Napheesa Collier and Crystal Dangerfield looked to have breakout games. Collier led the team with 30 points on 10-15 shooting and 2-3 on threes. She really filled up the box score with 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and a block. Dangerfield was 10-14 from the field, scoring a career high 26 points and she added 9 assists with ZERO turnovers. She is starting to play like the best pure point guard in the country.

In more good news, I thought Megan Walker had nice follow up game with 11 points and 9 rebounds. Her issues were going only 1-4 on threes and an unusually sloppy 6 turnovers. The other bright spot was the nice 16 minutes that Nelson-Ododa had. She ended up with 7 points and 7 rebounds along with 2 assists. She added a steal and altered a couple of shots. Other than her 5-11 free throw shooting she had a fine game. Hopefully she can build on this effort and Geno continues to give her meaningful minutes.

Katie Lou Samuelson is still really struggling. She was not only 1-7 on threes, she added 4 turnovers. But I do remember Samuelson following up bad games with some amazing games. Like a 9-10 effort on threes? Look for something great very soon!

So, you have heard of the freshman wall? Well the wall Williams has hit is solid brick and 40 feet high! No Trump joke please... So hopefully she pulls out of it like Breanna Stewart did her freshman season where she led UConn to a National Championship!! Give her some time.

Game Highlights

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"The team I saw today would be lucky to get to the regional finals, let alone another FF trip."

I saw this post on Facebook today after the UConn win and my jaw dropped. Now I get this team isn't as dominating as last years team. Hey, losing Gabby Williams and Kia Nurse would hurt any team, even with having two Top Five HS recruits coming in. But seriously, does this guy know who they will be playing in the regional Finals to get to the Final Four?

Let me help by using Charlie Creme's Bracketology.

To get to the regional finals, the highest seed you have to play is No. 4. You don't face No. 2 or No. 3 seeds until you are IN the regional final. So, figuring who are the 4 and 5 seeds in his bracketology, here are the teams UConn might face to get to the regional finals.

4 Seeds - Arizona, Iowa State, Texas, Gonzaga
5 Seeds - Florida State, Rutgers, Iowa, Kentucky

Do any of these teams scare you? I know, he said "the team I saw today", so I guess it's a matter of opinion how they played today. Well, if you are reading this, you already saw my post games remarks above. I think this team beats any of the 4/5 seeds they might face. And you all know me, I don't think there is a 2/3 seed that will beat them either.

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Someone I really respect in their opinion on UConn posted this on a UConn message board.

"Has ANY past Uconn team played 12 of their first 17 games on the road, and not just on the road, but taking road trips - this last one Tulane and Temple over 5 days. They have been out of classes for a month and on the road (including their Christmas break for most of that time. Hard to get anything done in practice with that kind of schedule. Yeah, 5 home games"
ACC: ND has played 10 home games, NCST 11, Louisville 9
Big12: Baylor 7, TX 10, Iowa 13
Big 10: Rutgers, Maryland, and Iowa 9
Pac12: Oregon 9, Stanford 8, OrSt 10
SEC: MsSt 10, SC 9, KY 12
BigE: Marq 12, DePaul 9

Again, UConn has played only FIVE home games this season yet they are 16-1 and No. 2 in the country. The rest of the season, UConn has 13 games remaining, 7 home and 6 road. That means for the season, they will have 12 home and 18 road games. Name a top team that has done that this season. It's not easy.

Fans need to give this team a break and not be so damn critical.

UConn doesn't play again until Wednesday against 7-10 SMU. The Mustangs are on a real downturn, losing 8 of their last 10 games. This game could be what the shooting doctor ordered, a home game with familiar rims against a really weak opponent.

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By David in Naples!!!!!

Katie Lou Samuelson is UConn’s Plan A for scoring points. What do you do when Plan A goes 0-7 to start the game? Switch to Plan B, Napheesa Collier, of course. Pheesa filled the void against Temple with 30 points, including 2-3 from three and 8-10 from the free throw line.

Plan C, Crystal Dangerfield also picked up the slack with a career high 26 points. Together, Pheesa and Crystal hit 5 of 10 threes to bail out Lou. Their 56 points was more than Temple had in the first three periods.

Napheesa added 12 rebounds for her 10th double-double of the season. She and Dangerfield also had 14 of UConn’s 19 assists, 4 of the Huskies 8 steals and only 1 foul each. Thank goodness for Plan B & C.

Go Huskies..!!