Doggy's UConn/Tennessee Post Game Report

UConn 60 Tennessee 45

This one took me a while to put together. I had to watch the game a second time to appreciate some of the nuances in the game.  

Using a second half defensive effort and led by their freshman duo, UConn was able to put away Tennessee and win this game going away 60-45.

It's hard to write about this game from a UConn perspective without talking about two things. Really bad shooting and really good defense. 

For almost the entire game, UConn missed shots they usually make. From open three pointers to mid-range jumpers to even layups the Huskies just looked discombobulated when releasing their shots. Maybe it was the atmosphere of the big crowd on ESPN that get them just a little nervous. Remember, in games like this (and Baylor) it's maybe the first time for everyone except Dangerfield where they had to be the ones that made the shots. Last year they just watched Samuelson and Collier. Even Dangerfield, after coming out strong and going 4-4, was just awful from the field. I mean awful. The usually dependable Megan Walker looked a little unsure on her shots. It doesn't take much to create a little doubt in a players mind. Some of the poor shooting happens when the shot doesn't come in the flow of the offense. That happened several time. They length of Tennessee certainly had a lot to do with that. 

So, when your shot is off, you need to do other things to make up for it. And boy, did the team do that. Once Tennessee reached 26 points in the second quarter, UConn turned up the defense and the Lady Vols struggled to get any good shots. They only scored 19 more points in the entire game. That is just a ridiculous number. Certainly Tennessee's bad offense had something to do with it, but I don't think I've seen the UConn defense play like this all season. Every team has an identity. Is this the identity of this team now? Great half court defense along with on the ball pressure? Yes, Tennessee had 27 turnovers and several were just bad plays by the Lady Vols. But behind Griffin and Makurat, UConn had 17 steals. They anticipated passes, jumped the passing lanes, dove for loose balls and just had great energy on the defensive end. 

As Geno always says, if your shot is off, do something else to help the team. I'm pretty sure he didn't anticipate the entire team having their shot off. I'm pretty sure you won't find many games where a team shoots this poorly and wins by 15. 

I'm just thrilled they won this game and won going away. I would have hated to see the internet if UConn had lost this game. It would have been ugly. Now it's just beautiful!!!       

Enjoy the videos and my player by player analysis. 

TOP FIVE PLAYS

Game Highlights 

Full Game Replay

Game Stats and Box Score

******************************************************************************
Post Game Interviews

Geno

Aubrey Griffin

Olivia Neslson-Ododa

Crystal Dangerfield

Coach Kellie Harper 

Game Quotes from Geno

“I’ve been saying the same thing now for 17 games and for some reason today it sunk in. I think because we knew we were small and we knew we had to create offense off our defense, and the shots weren’t going in, instead of feeling sorry for ourselves, I thought we played harder. That was a great lesson for them.”

"It always feels good when you beat a really good team. The way they played in the first half. ... We've played some good teams. I don't know that they're No. 23 in the country; they're pretty darn good."


“Generally speaking, every time we play a good team we’re undersized, so we have to work a little bit harder, be smarter, be at the right place at the right time and make all of the hustle plays. I think we got every loose ball in the second half.” 

"When you're our age as a coach and you're stil able to do this - when so many people that were our contemporaries are not here with us any longer - it does make you reflect back a little bit. The things we used to take for granted you know.  It wasn't the same. I miss having Pat there. I miss looking forward to having her there. I didn't miss having to coach against her. But I missed looking forward to it. For sure"

Game Quotes from

Tennessee Coach Kellie Harper

“I felt like they came out with a different intensity defensively in the second half and I think their game plan might have changed a little bit also. He probably told then to go rebound. They crashed the boards really hard in that third quarter.  We just lost our composure to be honest with you in that third quarter ... I think some of our youth and some of our inexperience just showed during that time.”

******************************************************************************

UConn Player Evaluations

Player of the Game

Aubrey Griffin

Sometimes she plays like a lost and timid freshman. But in this game, we saw what Aubrey can do against good competition when she just plays and doesn't think. She was just a force. Her incredible athleticism just inspired the rest of her teammates to play with great enthusiasm. 

Aubrey only played 23 minutes, but she was second on the team in scoring and on a team that shot so poorly, she was 5-8 from the field. The most impressive stats were her 5 offensive rebounds and her 5 steals. Amazing. We will see some big things from Aubrey the rest of the season if she can keep her confidence going.  

"I feel like we're going to get in the gym more and make more shots. Our shots weren't going in, but everything else was good. Our defense was outstanding, and everybody played together."

Crystal Dangerfield

Crystal was the hero in the early part of this game. Without her 4-4 start, UConn might have been blown out in the first half. But after that, she had the worst shooting performance of the season going 2-16. Wow. But it was her leadership on the court that made her so valuable. Her defense was great at well along with breaking the Tennessee pressure. She played all 40 minutes and led the team with 14 points along with 4 steals. I love her passes on the fast break. She really can see the angles and I would be that over 90% of her passes on the break lead to a layup.

"Hopefully the series continues because I think this game was a good spark to get that back. Bodies flying everywhere, yelling, screaming -- it was a pretty good game."

Anna Makurat   

Man, I love this player. She is one tough cookie. She played 37 minutes in this game. Geno must love what she brings to the table. I thought in this game she was just terrific. She dove for every loose ball, defended the hell out of the Tennessee players and helped break the Tennessee press along with Crystal.  She also rebounds on the defensive end as much as anyone on the team. In this game she had 5 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. 

Megan Walker

Tough game for Megan. She had some foul trouble in this one and she just didn't seem herself. In her 35 minutes, she only scored 9 points and  grabbed 6 rebounds. She was a poor 3-15 from the field. She missed shots she can make in her sleep. But like the rest of her teammates, she played some terrific defense. Her post defense was amazing, given that she was giving up 3-4 inches and 20-30 lbs in the paint.   

Christyn Williams

Christyn is still in that sophomore slump. She was active for sure, but she missed a lot of shots she usually makes. Williams was only 4-14 from the field. She ended up with 9 points, 7 rebounds, and three steals. Geno played her 37 minutes, so he must have liked what she brought to the table. Her defense was solid and her two fast  break finishes were huge.   

Olivia Nelson-Ododa

It was a tail of two halves for Olivia. the first half she was just awful. In early foul trouble, she forced shots, and defended poorly. She was scoreless in that half.

In the second half, she was a different player. She still forced the shot when she received the ball in the post, but was able to get the defender to foul her. She was 4-6 from the line. She also hit a couple of outside shots. In her 22 minutes, she ended up with 10 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assists, 1 block and 1 steal.  I hope she can build off of that half.  

“We came out with a lot of fight. I think that really helped us in terms of diving on the floor, trying to get as many loose balls as we could. That was really cool to see tonight especially because we hadn’t really seen it this season, but I know that’s something that we definitely can carry forward with us.”

Kyla Irwin

I didn't think she would play much in this game and I was right.  She only played 6 minutes and had 3 turnovers. Talk about bad match ups. I'm sure she will see minutes against East Carolina on Saturday and against other weak teams. But Geno knows that she can't help that much against the better teams.  

 Final Thoughts

I'm glad this game is over. I would be happy if we never played Tennessee again, but their is the second game of the series that will occur next season in Thompson Boiling Arena. It should be a totally different game, I would think. Tennessee will only lose two players, Lou Brown, who played 24 minutes as a starter in this game and Kamala Harris, who played nine ineffective minutes. They bring back Zaay Green, who should help at the point guard position and two freshman forwards ranked 59 and 100+ in the ESPN HS rankings. I'm not sure how much better they will be.

UConn will lose Dangerfield, Bent, Irwin and Adebayo. I know that Dangerfield's senior leadership at the point will be missed but UConn adds the No. 1 recruit who happens to be a point guard and a great European guard Nika Muhl. They also add Evina Westbrook to help at that position. They also add some size to help with the front line in 6'5" Piath Gabriel and 6'3" Aaliyah Edwards and the pogo stick of a player Mir McLean. 

I just can't imagine the next match up playing out the same way. This year I was dreading this game. I'm actually looking forward to next years game.