Doggydaddy's Den: Doggy's Doghouse 2/7/19

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Here are the highlights from the ECU game and the post game interivews. ENJOY!!!

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UConn plays Temple Saturday in Storrs at the comfy confines of Gample Pavilion. Like the XL center, there is nothing like familiar rims to get a team shooting well. Hopefully the hot shooting will continue against the Owls.

After a 7 game losing streak, Temple is actually on a roll winning their last 4 games. They started the streak by beating up on the East Carolina team that UConn just destroyed, winning 84-62. They then went on the road and beat Tulsa 75-61 and Wichita 65-40. In their last game they beat Houston at home 76-65. That's four straight games winning by double digits. They are HOT.

In the first matchup, Temple really played a nice second half only losing by a 46-42 margin. That's 42 points in a half against a pretty good defensive UConn team. Can the Owls build on their hot streak, the solid play against UConn in their first matchup to make this a game? Eh...I don't think so.

Speaking of building off success, Nelson-Ododa had a very good game against Temple. She played a solid 16 minutes with 7 points and 7 rebounds. She added 2 assists and a steal. She also went 5-11 from the foul line.

I'm looking forward to see if UConn can also build on their success, mainly the great game against East Carolina. I suspect it will. UConn by 25+.

UConn Temple First Game Highlights

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Boy was I wrong. I guess I'm still not used to parity in WCBB. It really is here and it's a great thing.

First off, in spite of only scoring 6 fourth quarter points, No. 2 Louisville hammered No. 14 Syracuse 76-51. I always enjoy a good Orange beatdown, and this one is even better when the team that recently beat UConn does the job. Louisville is really good this year. Neither team shot particularly well, but Syracuse was really bad. The had three players go 1-11, 1-8 and 1-7 from the field. Painful. And those three players were each 0-4 on threes. That's 0-12. Even more painful.

In a pretty big upset No. 4 Notre Dame lost again to No. 25 Miami. I was pretty surprised by this outcome. I did get to watch a lot of this game and Notre Dame looks a lot like UConn has looked their last few game before returning home and beating East Carolina. The Irish look fatigued in this road game and they look to have even less of a bench than UConn. In a combined 14 minutes, they were 1-3 from the field for 2 points, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 3 personal fouls. Yes, more personal fouls than points. Ogunbowale had her high volume, low percentage game, going 4-15 from the field, 1-6 on threes and she missed two important free throws late in the game. With 6 second left, Notre Dame missed a three pointer and Miami grabbed the rebound. On the pass, Ogunbowale gave a forearm to the Hurricane player with the ball for two foul shots. It's just a typical from Notre Dame and especially this particular player. I guess UConn has a shot to move past Notre Dame in the polls or move past them as a No. 1 seed in Cremes Bracketology. Maybe.

No. 9 North Carolina State lost again this time at No. 24 Florida State. I makes me think the 21 game winning streak to start the season was a product of some luck and an easy schedule. Their OOC schedule was really easy and they still haven't played the better teams in the ACC. And FSU is not that good either.

There was another upset, this one in the SEC. No. 18 Texas A&M was beaten by unranked Missouri in OT 70-65. I really don't like this A&M team. It's a team dominated by one player to the detriment of the others. And I'm surprised that their coach Gary Blair lets this happen. Chennedy Carter took 33 shots in this game. Let that sink in for a second. THIRTY THREE SHOTS. And she only made 10 of them. That means she MISSED 23 shots. Their other guard Kayla Wells took 18 shots. She only made 6. That's 51 shots between two players. The rest of the team took 23. This is NOT good basketball.

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By David in Naples!!!!!

Katie Lou Samuelson and Napheesa Collier are classmates and the best of friends. They are very close in statistics as well. KLS has scored 416 points so far this season. Pheesa has 415. Assists are tied at 78 each. Steals? One has 29, the other 28. Scoring average per game? Both at 18.9 per. But the two All Americans get their points very different ways...

Lou has made 53 three-point baskets for 159 points. Pheesa has 6 threes for 18 points. Collier makes up for the lack of threes with 164 baskets inside the arc. KLS has 91 non-three baskets. While Napheesa has a better overall shooting % at 59.6% vs 45.6%, Katie Lou is much better at the charity stripe. (85.2% vs 69.0%) Even though Lou has picked up her rebounding this season with 153 boards, Pheesa leads the team with 213. Blocked shots also favors Collier at 33 to 15.

Both are having a great season doing what they do best. UConn sits 20-2 and hosts Temple next Saturday in Storrs.

Go Huskies..!!