Doggy's UConn/Tennessee Post Game Report

 

UConn 67 Tennessee 61

Wow, what a tense game. UConn/Tennessee old school!

I admit, I really can't watch the game live. I have to watch it after the fact. I get way too nervous. But after reviewing the game, it was an easy analysis.

Despite having an off shooting night UConn won 67-61 on the road. That is the bottom line.

UConn shot 25-61 from the floor (41%) and just 7-25 (28%) from three. The Huskies also had a miserable night at the foul line, hitting just 10-21.

Geno must have been really concerned with Tennessee's size because they shot the ball early and often in the first quarter with its first four shots and 10 of its first 15 coming from beyond the arc. And many of those were from Nelson-Ododa and Griffin. Crazy. Taking those shots is ok as long as you make them. They only made two. They didn't even score for the first 2 1/2 minutes until a Nelson-Ododa layup.

The Huskies also struggled to keep Tennessee off the offensive glass. In the first quarter alone, the Vols grabbed seven offensive boards which resulted in seven second-chance points. Because of that Tennessee was able to take a one point lead after the first quarter after Williams hit a jumper with 3 seconds left in the quarter to make it 17-16.

UConn make more of an effort to get the ball inside only taking two three-pointers in the second quarter. That sparked an 8-0 run from the Huskies which put them ahead by five, their largest lead of the game to that point. Tennessee snapped the run with a three and UConn’s offense went cold. The Huskies scored just six points over the next four and a half minutes as the Lady Vols to took the lead.

The two teams went into the locker room at halftime with Tennessee up 35-34. It was the first time UConn had trailed at the half this season.

Griffin scored four of the Huskies’ first six points of the third quarter but picked up her third and fourth fouls in quick succession, which sent her to the bench. Williams scored UConn’s final eight points of the quarter. UConn was only down one point 45-44 before backup point guard Walker hit a big three pointer and then hit one of two free throws for a 5 point lead for Tennessee. I turned away at this point..lol. Williams hit a free throw but the Huskies still went into the final 10 minutes trailing by four.

UConn’s defense stepped up in the fourth, holding Tennessee to just one basket in the first five minutes. The Huskies threes also started to fall with four of their seven makes coming in the final quarter. Westbrook hit two of those and boy were those huge. That must have felt good doing that against her former team. A 9-0 run gave UConn the lead for good with 4:46 left and looked poised to pull away before Paige Bueckers twisted her ankle. This really gave Tennessee to get back into the game as the Huskies could not find a good shot. After getting her ankle taped underneath the bleachers, the freshman returned with 1:16 left. Tennessee cut UConn’s lead to two with 55 seconds left.

On the next possession with the shot clock winding down, Evina Westbrook found an open Bueckers, who buried a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to put UConn ahead by five. The Vols didn’t score again as the Huskies came away with a six-point victory on the road.

It was a great win for a very young UConn team and one that will be incredibly important for their chances the rest of the way.

UConn ended up shooting 41% from the field, 28% on threes, and a putrid 46.7% from the FT line.

Tennessee shot 36.9% from the field, 35% on threes, and 60% from the FT line.

Game Highlights - UConn

Game Highlights - Tennessee 

Longer Highlights

Full Game Replay

Game Stats and Box Score

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Post Game Interviews

Geno

Christyn Williams and Evina Westbrook

Rennia Davis

Marte Suarez

Coach Kellie Harper 


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Game Quotes from Geno 

“We really did not execute great. We put them in a position to get back into that game because we did a couple of bizarre things. But on the defensive end, we started to get a little more active, and we were a little more engaged. We probably played more zone than we have played this year simply because of their size, and we couldn’t guard a couple of them. If the ball is not going in and you are struggling offensively, you’ve got to get something out of your defense. They are just so hard to play against, man they are so big, so big.”

"Those first three quarters, it would have been really easy for us to just let it get away and leave here with with an L. But games like this are somewhat rewarding."

“I thought Evina was unbelievable. She made some clutch, clutch shots … It couldn’t have been easy coming back here … but I couldn’t have asked her to play any better for sure.”

“Like I always say, you don’t lose the game off of one play. You can’t go back and say that one play cost us the game. People love to say that. You don’t generally have that. But one play, one big play, can win you the game. We had some really big plays by all those guys, by Christyn, the shots that (Westbrook) made … everybody made some contributions. It was good to see them do that because I wasn’t sure what we would do the first time we were faced with a game where nothing goes right.”

“I can’t think of one thing that we did well in those first three quarters. We just hung around.”

“I’m glad Paige didn’t pass up that open 3 that she had. That was pretty big. The other guys (on the UConn team), they were the happiest guys on the floor because they didn’t really want to take that shot. When Paige caught it, she was obviously wide open and she wasn’t afraid to take it and maybe that’s what she’s all about.”

Game Quotes from

Tennessee Coach Kellie Harper

And her players

Coach Harper - “They were disappointed. You walk in and see them in there – they’re disappointed,” Harper said. “I think individually, they’re probably sitting there thinking about what they could’ve done. How could it have been different and better. The good thing is that the losses that we have had, we have come out of those better. We have handled them very well. We have had growth after both of those. I’m hopeful that we can do the same this time. I don’t ever want to get complacent and accustomed to losing, so that's not what I'm talking about. But afterwards, does it make you a better basketball team? Can we grow from it? We've been able to do that, so hopefully we can continue.”

Coach Harper - “In the fourth quarter, we just could not find a bucket. They changed their defense a few times and threw our pace off a little bit. We got a little tight but had some open looks and just couldn’t knock them down. Also, in that fourth quarter, we gave up more offensive boards in the fourth quarter than we needed to. We gave them some extra possessions. When you’re not scoring, like we were doing in the fourth quarter, you’ve got to be better on the defensive end in finishing up with the boards.”

Coach Harper - “I think there were some big momentum plays in that fourth quarter. That was obviously one of them, to grab that board. They probably had more (offensive rebounds) in that fourth quarter than they had the rest of the game combined. You can’t have that down the stretch. You’ve got to be able to come up with those. That was big.”

Marte Suárez - “You could feel the fans. (We’re) really grateful for the fans, it meant a lot. It was crazy to feel that atmosphere; it helped motivate us a lot.”

Marte Suárez - “We are still a great team; we just need to keep trusting the process, and we know what we have to work on. We know the talent we have. We just have to fix some small things, some small details. We know what we have to do, and I believe we are going do it.”

Rennia Davis - “It stings for several reasons,. Obviously, we were right there with them. Obviously, we feel like we are a better team than them. We just didn’t do some things the right way. It was just so many things that didn’t go our way, and we were still right there and still could’ve came out with that game. I think that is what is most disappointing for me.”

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UConn Player Evaluations

Player of the Game

Evina Westbrook

Well, that game had to feel good. Westbrook was terrific in this game. She had several really nice pull up jumpers in the lane, a shot I hadn't seen so far this season. Maybe I missed it. And she hit two HUGE threes in the fourth quarter. She showed true leadership. And she made the pass that led to Bueckers' big three point shot. Just because she was in such an emotional situation and handled it so well, I made her the POG.  

She went 5-8 from the field, 3-5 on threes, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. And she played 38 minutes. A really nice line.

"When that one came off Paige's hand, we all knew it was going to [go in]. She knew it, the bench knew it. I felt like the crowd knew it."

“Especially when we’re hitting shots, we had to nail down on the defensive end. Everyone knew that. Talking in the huddle, it was like, ‘Hey, shot goes up, we have to box out. There’s just no other way. We have to box out. We have to get the rebounds. We have to try to get them off the boards as much as possible.’ Even though our offense wasn’t flowing like we would have wanted it to, our defense came in, we got stops when we needed to, rebounded when we needed to, make shots when we needed to, too.”

Christyn Williams

I read on a UConn message board that one poster said he wouldn't miss her if she decided to go pro after this season. What a moron.

Williams was terrific in this game and solid from opening tip to final buzzer. She showed no hesitation and did a great job handling the physicality of this match up. Loved her post game interview on ESPN with Holly Rowe. She is a sweatheart.

In her 32 minutes Christyn scored 20 points on 8-18 shooting and 2-7 on threes. She added 3 rebounds and 2 assists.

“I think our shots weren’t falling pretty much the entire game. Our main focus was sticking together and making big plays and that’s exactly what we did”.

“I told Paige, ‘I don’t care that you missed a bunch of shots. ‘You made the one that counted.’ That’s not easy for a freshman.”

Olivia Nelson-Ododa

I love when there is a picture of a big play. This one shows Nelson-Ododa blocking a show which she saved from going out of bounds and it turned into a fastbreak putback by Paige. While she didn't score much, only 7 points, she did snare 11 rebounds and had 3 blocks overall. Hey, Tennessee's Key is a big player and tough to go against. Olivia was 0-4 on threes. Yes, she took 4 threes. Why? Ask her and Geno...lol.

Paige Bueckers

Yes, Bueckers is a freshman. She struggled with her shooting. Why? Some was the environment, you know, the Thompson-Boiling Arena mystique. It really does exist. But let me tell you, the rest of her game was outstanding. She hit both of her foul shots, the only player on either side to not miss a free throw. She handed out 7 assists, some of which were magician-like. And I'm always amazed with her rebounding ability. She grabbed 8 of those. Hey, she did score 9 points, including that HUGE three pointer to put the Lady Vols out of their misery. The 2 minutes she was out of the game after spraining her ankle until she had it wrapped up and returned, Tennessee outscored UConn 9-2 to close to 2 points. Think they missed her? You think the Lady Vols make that run if Paige is on the court? Doubtful. 

This was a great learning experience for Paige.      

Aubrey Griffin

I think Griffin cemented her position in the starting line. And she hit a three pointer!! I know it's hard to believe but she was a really good but streaky three point shooter in HS. I don't mind her taking them as much as I mind ONO taking them. Aubrey was terrific in her 23 minutes. She was another player that handled the physicality of the game. She scored 10 points on 4-8 shooting and a disappointing 1-3 from the free throw line. And she added 4 rebounds and 2 blocks as well. The only other negative was her 4 fouls. Two of them came quickly and forced Geno to put her on the bench for several minutes. That really hurt in this game. She is one amazing athlete.

Aaliyah Edwards

I guess what comes to my mind about Aaliyah is the words "not bad, not bad at all". She hit a couple of mid-range jumpers and was a big presence in the paint. In her 21 minutes, Edwards scored 6 points and grabbed 3 rebounds. Unfortunately, she had a freshman like 3 turnovers. Another freshman what got a lot of experience in a tough environment and did ok and will certainly learn from it. And in the battle of the braids, I give her the edge.

Anna Makurat

Did she play? Oh yeah, 12 forgettable minutes. For the life of me, I don't know what happened to Makarat. She was a real contributor last season and even a couple of games this year. She seems to have lost all her confidence. I hope she finds it. She's a great kid and looks a little lost right now. We got your back Anna!!

 

 Final Thoughts

I'm so glad this game is over and I'm so glad they won. I hate these games. Close games can be fun but against Tennessee, well, I have a tough time. Mostly, as a reader of the different message boards, I never want to see how the Orange Crazies would ever react to beating the Huskies. It makes me nauseous just to think about it. When you read my next daily blog I will share some crazy stuff from those fans, and that is after losing. You won't believe it.

As I said a few times in this blog, this game was perfect for this young team. A hostile environment against a big and quick team that plays tough defense. A great win for future situations.

Up next is Georgetown. They have only played 5 games all season, having their first four games either cancelled or postponed and then like everyone else, having a Villanova game postponed. Their only win on the season is against Butler, a 56-45 win. That should give you an idea  of how UConn will do against the Hoyas. It won't be pretty. 

Stay safe Huskies and Husky fans!!!