Doggydaddy's Den: Doggy's Doghouse 2/24/19

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Today's UConn game is kinda like Barrett eating broccoli. Some of you really liked it. The great defense and the great play by Megan Walker and Christyn Williams, two players that UConn really needs to play well in the later rounds of the NCAA tournament. But some of you really hate broccoli, the poor UConn shooting, Tulsa hitting so many shots they usually miss so early in the game.

Hey, every game can't be like your favorite food, but as long as you are full after you eat, all is good. And as long as UConn wins, I feel full.

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I love Chris Daily. She is just a great person. I've met her several times and she is so easy to talk to. And she does a great job when Geno misses a game. She is undefeated!!!

That being said, this was a weird game to watch. UConn never really looked in sync in this one. Collier looked like she was still in Connecticut. Now, Tulsa did a great job defending her, but we are all used to her finding a way when she gets the ball down low. Not this game.

Tulsa started out hitting almost every shot they took. I told you yesterday that Tulsa was a better three point shooting team than their stats said but I didn't mean they would go 4-4 to start the game. This shooting propelled Tulsa to an early 14-7 lead. UConn then went on a 15-0 run to end the first quarter with a 22-14 lead. It was over pretty much after that.

The Huskies were led by Megan Walker's 21 points, 10 rebound game. She added 3 assists and 3 steals. Christyn Williams was good in this game as well. She had 12 points, 5 assists and 4 steals. All five starters were in double digit scoring. Not much help from the bench in this game either.

As the expression goes, a win is a win. Maybe they did miss Geno?

The good news is they clinched the regular season title in the AAC again. And the No. 1 seed in the AAC tournament.

Up next is Wichita State on the road on Tuesday. The Shockers are 11-15 and 4-9 in the AAC and another low scoring AAC opponent. More to come in Monday's blog.

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No. 23 South Dakota lost to in state rival South Dakota State in overtime 82-78 behind Macy Miller with 28 points and Tagyn Larson with 21 points and 11 rebounds. I'm not sure how much of an upset this really is. It was on SD State's home court and SD State is no slouch either. In fact, they actually lead their conference with a 14-1 record!

Here are some interesting games and comments about them.

No. 16 Kentucky, fresh off it's upset of No. 13 South Carolina, held on to beat LSU 57-52. Kentucky, while struggling on offense, still held a 50-32 lead with 8 minutes left in the game. The Wildcats didn't make another field goal in the game, only scoring 7 points from the foul line. They were 0-9 from the field and had 3 turnovers in those 8 minutes. Bad! But LSU just couldn't get closer than 2 points with 1:45 left in the game.

Speak of No. 13 South Carolina, they beat unranked and disrespected Tennessee 82-67 in Thompson-Boiling Arena in front of 9,448 disheartened Lady Vol fans. South Carolina was missing their leading scorer and former Lady Vol Te'a Cooper but that didn't seem to matter. Tennessee was just awful in the first quarter, going down 27-11. I almost felt sorry for them. Almost. UConn pest Bianca Cuevas-Moore was outstanding in this game and had a career high 28 points. Tennessee needs to win their last two conference games and at least one game in the SEC tournament to have a shot at the Dance. They just don't look like a team that can do that.

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Tough news from Jersey, my birth state. Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer will be taking the rest of the regular season off based on doctor's advise. They are calling it exhaustion. I hope it's not more than that. She is expected back for the post season.

"As you can imagine, this was not an easy decision. However, in consultation with my doctors, it's in my best interest to spend time to get healthy before returning to the day-to-day grind of coaching".

Get better soon C.Viv!!

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By David in Naples!!!!!

Some times, on the road, you just take the win and go back to the hotel. Today was one of those types of victories for UConn. Certain fans will no doubt be barking about the lack of offense, but that was one hell of an effort on defense. Consider:

1. Tulsa had 19 baskets & 19 turnovers.
2. UConn has only 8 fouls and 10 steals.
3. Tulsa shot less than 33% from the field.
4. Tulsa scores only 6 pts in the 3rd period.
5. Napheesa had 15 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.
6. After scoring 27 points in the 1st half, Tulsa had only 22 in the last 20 minutes.
7. Six Tulsa players went a combined 3-21 from the field.
8. Tulsa only tried 4 free throws.

The bottom line is the UConn defense did what it had to do to win. After a shaky first 3 minutes they dominated the Golden Hurricane and improved to 25-2..!!

Go Huskies..!!