Sunday, November 19, 2019
Time: 1:00
TV: SNY/ESPN3
TV: SNY/ESPN3
No. 4 UConn 2-0 Temple 3-1
Head to Head games
UConn 13-2
1/16/81 L 68-71 A
1/16/82 L 49-62 H
3/23/10 W 90-36 N
1/11/14 W 80-36 H
1/28/14 W 93-56 A
1/14/15 W 92-58 H
2/1/15 W 83-49 A
1/16/16 W 104-49 H
2/14/16 W 85-60 A
2/1/17 W 97-69 A
2/1/17 W 97-69 A
2/22/17 W 90-45 H
1/21/18 W 113-57 A
01/19/19 W 88-67 A
02/09/19 W 109-74 H
1/21/18 W 113-57 A
01/19/19 W 88-67 A
02/09/19 W 109-74 H
Last years Game Highlights
Here is my post game report from that game. I can only hope UConn comes close to this performance.
UConn continued it's hot shooting at home with a big 109-74 win over Temple. It was the second consecutive game scoring 100+ points for the Huskies.
Lots of great things happened in this game. Let's get started!!!
UConn was led by Napheesa Collier, who was just terrific in this game. She had 30 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 blocks, and 1 steal. She was 12-16 from the field and even hit her only three pointer she took. She is playing as good as her great sophomore season and even better. 1st team AA in my book.
I've said this a few times over the last few weeks. Crystal Dangerfield is the best point guard in the country and getting better. She had nine assists in this game with 3 turnovers. AND she was 5-6 on three pointers to finish with 22 points. She also added 3 steals. She could be the difference maker for this team in the tournament as the third scorer on a consistent basis. She is really not only looking for the assist but she is also looking for her shot at the right time.
Is Katie Lou out of her slump? I believe that might be true. She hit a couple of threes that the ball barely hit her hands from a pass before launching it. It was beautiful. I'll have a writeup on her three point shooting after this game report. She was 5-8 on threes and for 19 points and she added 7 assists. She is really a complete player.
Megan Walker was limited by foul trouble in this game but she still managed 12 points in her 21 minutes. I really liked how she ran the court for fast break opportunities and she posted strong in the paint. She is really becoming more and more reliable out there.
Christyn Williams is slowly creeping out of her slump too. She was 2-4 on threes, and that is huge for this team. She only scored 9 points, but she added 3 assists.
It was great to see Olivia Nelson-Ododa be the first player off the bench. That is what I envisioned at the beginning of the year. She still has foul trouble issues so her minutes will be limited in most games, but 10 points and 6 rebounds in her 16 minutes? Geno will take that every game.
The rest of the bench did a nice job when in the game. It's always fun to see Molly take and make a three pointer and she added 5 total points. Mikayla Coombs played 10 minutes and I'm not kidding, she hit a shot!!! Kyla Irwin had a solid 11 minutes. She didn't score, but she had 2 rebounds and 2 assists and a ton of great screens. She understands her role as good as anyone on the team.
Overall, a terrific effort by UConn. Temple was able to take 34 threes, and were over the top hot from the perimeter, making 14 of them. But UConn was hotter, going 15-24 on threes. They were over 60% from the field. They had 31 assists on 39 baskets and only had 9 turnovers for the game.
Temple comes into this game playing pretty well with a record of 3-1. Certainly better than their start last season. They beat Fairfield 77-59, Duquesne 85-72 before losing to St. Josephs 67-63. They bounced back in their most recent game, beating UConn's soon to be conference make Xavier 78-65.
UConn is 2-0 coming into this match up. Their performances haven't been up to usual UConn standards. They best California at home and Vanderbilt on the road.
UConn is 2-0 coming into this match up. Their performances haven't been up to usual UConn standards. They best California at home and Vanderbilt on the road.
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UCONN
The player names are clickable to see their Bios
UConn Starters
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TEMPLE
Temple Starters
Temple Bench
Game Analysis
Temple lost three starters from last years team, returning leading rebounder and scorer Mia Davis and sophomore forward Alexa Williamson. Gone are UConn pain in the butt, Aliya Butts and point guard Desiree Oliver, who had 15 points, 7 assists and 10 rebounds in last years second game against UConn.
Temple is a young team with a freshman, three sophomores and a junior in the starting lineup. Not a tall team in the starting lineup, they go 5'7", 5'8", 5'8", 6' and 6'1. They do bring a 6'4" center off the bench, but she doesn't play that many minutes.
Temple loves the three point shot. They always put up a ton of them against UConn and this game should be no different. They average 27 taken per game. Look for even more. Jones and Mackins will take the majority of these shots. In the past they would do a lot of driving and kicking out to get those open threes.
I haven't seen this version of the Owls, but in the past they had played similar to UConn teams on defense. No surprise considering the coach is a former UConn assistant. They will not put as much pressure on the ball as they don't appear to have the players to do that. But they will play a tough switching man-to-man defense and get their hands in the passing lanes. They usually get 7-8 steals per game.
You have to believe that Geno wants to see better ball movement than they had in the first two games. UConn is always one of the best teams in regards to assists and that is just not happening. A lot of that has to do with poor shooting. You can't get an assist if the ball doesn't go through the net. How will he do this? It's really up to the players. They will be better at running plays. If they improve as much as they did from game 1 to game 2 they will be in better shape. Speaking of better shape, I really believe that the Huskies as not is UConn shape yet. There looks to be a fatigue factor and hopefully a strong fourth quarter.
The fatigue appears to hurt on defense as well. That prevents UConn from pressuring as much as Geno would like. Hopefully they can to more of that for extended periods of time. I would think they would try.
Final Prediction
UConn by 20+
UConn traditionally is not great at defending the three when it’s kicked out after a hard drive. They are taught to help and they tend to help too much. This years team has allowed a lot of open corner threes. My guess is that if Temple makes a good percentage of their open threes it’s going to be a tough game. However, 9 am hoping for Makurat to finally start dropping some shots.
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