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In case you didn't notice, I really really like this team.
For the first 15 minutes it was a real grind it out kind of effort. Syracuse was as close as two points 21-19, but UConn ended the half on a 20-7 run to take control of the game.
The Huskies just played better and better as the game went on. Their passing was crisp and on target, like a well oiled machine. Syracuse didn't have a chance in this game.
UConn played seven players in this game and everyone contributed, even if they didn't score much. It was great to see Markurat get a lot of minutes. Her defense was solid and yes, she finally his a three pointer. And with 3 minutes left and UConn up 38, she dove to the floor to get a loose ball. Love it.
Some fans were so worried about this game, but UConn is just amazing. Did I mention how well they passed?
UConn had 4 players in double figures with Aubrey Griffen just missing with 9 points. She was terrific in this game.
Bueckers led the Huskies with 20 points, 4 assists, 5 rebounds and 3 steals. And one hellacious no look pass.
Edwards was strong in this game, forcing the Orange to foul her. I loved how she took the ball right at Cardosa. No fear baby!! She was 9-12 from the line and ended up with 19 points, 5 rebounds and what was great to see, 4 assists. That is a big improvement to her game.
I loved how Nelson-Ododa played in this game. She focused on the boards early and had I believe 6 rebounds in the first half. And while the 6'7" freshman Cardosa was out of the game, Olivia went to town on offense. She ended up with 17 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists.
And let's not forget about their defensive effort. They held Syracuse to 28% shooting and 3-15 on threes. And they turned them over 18 times. Fantastic.
The Huskies played a ton of zone in this game. Is this preparation for a future game against Baylor? It's a great strategy against a bigger team that doesn't shoot a lot of three pointers. Maybe Geno called in that game plan? Or was it my grandson Logan. He's pretty sharp.
You rarely see me making lineup suggestions. I figure Geno can handle it. But man, I really like the lineup that started this game. And bringing up Baylor again, that would be more effective than starting Muhl.
Ok, enough talk about Baylor. Iowa is the next game in the sweet sixteen. This should be a really fun game. Kentucky was just awful in their game against the Hawkeyes. But in the second half the Wildcats face guarded Catlin Clark and it made a big difference in slowing down the formidable Iowa offense. This game could be similar to the Arkansas loss in scoring but without the loss part. More on that game later.
Couple of notes - Geno is taking the next flight to join the team in San Antonio for the Sweet Sixteen game against Iowa. Chris Dailey is now 12-0 as coach of UConn. This is UConn's 27 consecutive Sweet Sixteen appearance.
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UCONN Post game Videos
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A friend of mine reminded me why I disliked Hillsman so much and then in yesterday's blog I said I didn't dislike him as much.
"How many here remember the game where Hillsman fielded a team with a couple of punks (Juanita Ward and Nicole Michael??) that were playing beyond chippy and well into dirty play and Auriemma's response was to unleash Maya Moore and she put up 40 plus against Hillsman's goons. After the game Michael tripped Auriemma in the handshake line and Hillsman did nothing about it."
Yeah, I hate him again. I'm glad UConn beat is fat ass!!!
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YA GOTTA LIKE EM!!!!
Here's our prediction for the #ncaaW Tournament at the start of the Round of 32 based on 5,000 simulations. Five teams have >10% odds to be national champs:
— Her Hoop Stats (@herhoopstats) March 23, 2021
1. UConn 29.8%
2. South Carolina 16.6%
3. Maryland 14.3%
4. Stanford 12.7%
5. Baylor 12.2%https://t.co/sqQ3xuAXnK pic.twitter.com/o8ILL8bMUO
Are they better or worse after beating Syracuse?
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Three more upsets Tuesday. Well, two of them were the 5th seed over the 4th seed, but hey, I don't make the rules of an upset. It is what it is.
One upset was really a toss up game, with 5 seed Georgia Tech beating 4 seed West Virginia. I believe that is a reflection of the weakness of the Big 12 conference.
The SEC is getting their butts kicked. The supposed best conference has only one team so far in the sweet sixteen with No. 1 seed South Carolina moving on after beating 7 seed Virginia Tech.
4th seed Arkansas lost to 13th seed Wright State in the first round.
4th seed Kentucky lost to 5th seed Iowa in the second round.
3rd seed Tennessee lost to 6th seed Michigan in the second round.
Who's left?
Wednesday, 7th seed Alabama plays 2nd seed Maryland. And 3rd seed Georgia plays 6th seed Oregon. 2nd seed Texas A&M plays 7th seed Iowa State.
I'll be back tomorrow for an SEC update.
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MERCADO REGION
No. 3 Arizona 79 vs No. 11 BYU Game Preview Wednesday 7:00 ET ESPNU
No. 2 Texas A&M vs No. 7 Iowa State Game Preview Wednesday 7:00 ET ESPN2
HEMISFAIR REGION
No. 2 Maryland vs No. 7 Alabama Game Preview Wednesday 1:00 ET ESPN2
No. 3 UCLA vs No. 6 Texas Wednesday Game Preview 9:00 ET ESPN2
ALAMO REGION
No. 5 Missouri State vs No. 13 Wright State Game Preview Wednesday 3:00 ET ESPNU
No. 3 Georgia vs No. 6 Oregon Game Preview Wednesday 3:00 ET ESPN2
No. 2 Louisville vs No. 7 Northwestern Game Preview Wednesday 5:00 ET ESPN2
RIVER WALK REGION
No. 1 UConn 83 No. 8 Syracuse 47 (links in UConn section)
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The Hoop Hall Awards is open for voting. It's a position by position ballot.
Paige Bueckers is on the list for the Nancy Leiberman Point Guard award.
Olivia Nelson-Ododa is on the list for the Lisa Leslie Center award.
I believe you can vote once a day per email address.
Here is the link.
And here is the link for the Naismith player of the year.
It's open now.
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By David in Naples
Syracuse had a simple, three step plan for beating UConn. Make lots of threes, feed the ball in to Cardoso and use their height to dominate the boards. Plan A failed and there was no Plan B.
1. Cuse made only 3 threes, and 1 was with less than a minute on the clock. 3-15 is 20% and that sucks.
2. Cardoso had the first 6 points for SU. Then she disappeared, finishing 5-9 with 1 blocked shot.
3. Syracuse out rebounded the Huskies 34-33, but could not use their height to stop Olivia or Aaliyah. Those two scored 36 points and dominated the lane.
Syracuse missed 41 shots and had more fouls (18) than baskets (16). They had 18 turnovers and only 7 assists. Their defense allowed UConn to shoot 56.3% from the field. Their trap defense produced 0 steals as Paige & Evina played monkey in the middle all night.
Lousy plan, even worse execution. And Coach Q looked like he stole Elton John’s workout clothes from the 80’s. Go home Q and realize you haven’t beat UConn in 26 straight tries.
Go Huskies..!
1. Cuse made only 3 threes, and 1 was with less than a minute on the clock. 3-15 is 20% and that sucks.
2. Cardoso had the first 6 points for SU. Then she disappeared, finishing 5-9 with 1 blocked shot.
3. Syracuse out rebounded the Huskies 34-33, but could not use their height to stop Olivia or Aaliyah. Those two scored 36 points and dominated the lane.
Syracuse missed 41 shots and had more fouls (18) than baskets (16). They had 18 turnovers and only 7 assists. Their defense allowed UConn to shoot 56.3% from the field. Their trap defense produced 0 steals as Paige & Evina played monkey in the middle all night.
Lousy plan, even worse execution. And Coach Q looked like he stole Elton John’s workout clothes from the 80’s. Go home Q and realize you haven’t beat UConn in 26 straight tries.
Go Huskies..!
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By Phil
More numbers
The first two rounds of the tournament are in the book and what can we conclude?
The 1-16 matchups I generally not competitive. The top seed won by an average of 33 points this year. However, that is very different than in 2019 when the top seeds one by an average of 48. in 2019 the "closest" call was Louisville beating Robert Morris by 35. They were up 21 four in the first quarter so not a lot of fingernail chewing in that one. this year, NC state was only up by one point against NC A&T at the end of the first quarter and seven points at the half but put it away in the third quarter pulling out to a 20 point lead and then coasting to the 21 point margin. Can we conclude anything by the fact that the games were 15 points closer? Probably not enough data points but perhaps it is a good sign.
The 2-15 margins were almost the same this year, averaging 34 points each, with Maryland's 53 point win representing the largest margin of the first two rounds. We did have a truly competitive game with Texas A&M, with help from the refs, beating Troy by four points. However, there was a close in 2019, with Iowa one point behind Mercer as the fourth quarter began, before Iowa pulled out a five point victory.
The 3 – 14 results were almost identical, with a 24 point average margin this year versus a 23 point average margin in 2019. The 4 – 13 margins averaged almost identical amounts, each at half point away from 14.5.
On the surface, one would think that 2019 had more upsets, because six teams recorded an upset versus only three in 2021. However, two of the "upsets" in 2019 were 8-9 matchups. It's hard to call these two upsets. Two more were in the 7-10 matchups. The biggest upset was a 6-11, while 2021 had an 11 seed, a 12 seed and a 13 seed all advance.
One has to be careful about drawing too strong a conclusion both because of limited data and the fact that 2021 will go into the books as an anomaly in many ways.
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