Doggydaddy's Den: Doggy's Doghouse 2/18/2022

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GO UCONN!!!!!

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Finally. We got to see what happens when you have an 8 player rotation. And what happens when UConn has a huge lead going into the fourth quarter. Gabriel and DeBerry get to play!

After a pecurliar slow start where it was 25-19, the Huskies went on a 19-0 run to end the first half. And that run wasn't over. They started the second half with an 18-0 run. Yes, 37-0 in around 12 minutes. That is more of what I was thinking would happen when I made my 50+ point win prediction.

Geno had a really nice 8 player rotation in the first three quarters. After the first 5 minutes, Geno substitued liberally and it really didn't matter who was on the court, they all were effective in their own way.

David has some great stats in his section that really captured UConn's dominance. What I liked most was the minutes and how they were spread out. He worked in Nelson-Ododa and Ducharme and limited their time after being out for so much time. They played only 16 and 14 minutes each. Olivia scored 8 points but did her usual great job in passing with 4 assists. Nice! And Caroline showed everyone what we were missing. She scored 11 points in her 14 minutes. And her three point shooting looked good as well, going 2-5 from deep.

The two main minutes grabbers were Williams and Westbrook, two of the seniors. Christyn scored a team high 13 points and a team high 5 assists in her 34 minutes. That is usually not her game, but with so many scoring options, assists come easy. Evina had 7 points and tied Williams with 5 assists in her 29 minutes.

Duhasz reverted to her poor FT shooting ways going 1-4 but she did a nice job on defense. She had 3 blocks and like everyone on the team, passed well garnering 4 assists.

Muhl was terrific tonight. She didn't miss a shot, going 3-3 from the floor and 2-2 on threes for 8 points in 24 minutes. Oddly, she only had 1 assist but she was her usual whirling dervish on defense and had 2 steals.

Fudd may be the best three point shooter I've seen on the Huskies and that is saying something. Her form is just perfect and her quick release allows her to get off shot with ease. In this game she was 3-5 from deep improving her season percentage to 47.8%. Azzi had 11 points in her 22 minutes.

My favorite part of the game was when we got to see both Piath Gabriel and Amari DeBerry get some extended minutes and actually look good. Gabriel played 8 minutes and scored 11 points going 5-7 from the field and grabbed 4 rebounds. DeBerry had 5 points and handed out 3 assists in her 6 minutes, hitting a three pointer in the process. I hope we get to see more of this.

Team wise, as the score shows, UConn dominated on both ends of the court.

Defensively, UConn just locked down the outmanned Xavier team. The Musketeers scored 19 points in the first 17 minutes and just 16 points in the las 23 minutes. Xavier was held to 24% shooting from the field. They had one hot player from the outside, Woods, who was 4-6 on threes. The rest of the team was 1-6 from deep. And UConn forced 23 turnovers.

Offensively UConn was just terrific in this game. The shot 63% from the field and 47.6% on threes. I loved that the Huskies had 26 assists on 34 baskets. And after turning the ball over 8 times in the first 14 minutes, they only turned it over 5 more times over the last 26 minutes.

Just a dominating performance by UConn and while expected, it was still great to see!

Up next is Georgetown on Sunday at the XL Center at 2:00.

Geno Postgame

Game Highlights

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"ICE" Brady - UConn 2022 incoming freshman!

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GAMES

No. 2 Stanford 87 Oregon State 63

No. 8 Arizona 51 Washington 42

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Charlie SECreme release his latest Bracketology and UConn is still a 3 seed in the Bridgeport region. That's fine. UConn can do well matching up with Baylor and then North Carolina State to get to the final four. But that doesn't mean I agree with it. I mean, how can Iowa State be a 2 seed ahead of UConn?

They just lost to Texas by 25 points and they stay a 2 seed? It just doesn't make sense to me.

And Baylor is the No. 2 seed in the Bridgeport region. I guess beating Texas twice gets you this seed according to Charlie? Baylor hasn't convinced me they are a two seed. Flip-flop them with UConn and I'll stop complaining.

Arizona is also a 2 seed and Friday night they beat a poor Washington team in an absolutely ugly offensive game. It took 5 late free throws for Arizona to break 50. I just don't think they are that good and certainly not better than the Huskies.

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It doesn't look good for Tennessee and their star player Jordan Horston. She injured her arm Thursday night against Alabama in the last 3 minutes of the game. Word out of Knoxville is that it's a season ending injury. Very sad for this young lady. The impact to Tennessee, a team that has been reeling, is tremendous.

Horston, while a low percentage shooter and a turnover prone player, she dominates their offense. She has taken 367 shots this season. The next closest player is Alexus Dye with 245 shots. And after that it's Jordan Walker with 197 shots. Players who haven't been taking many shots will be expected to pick up the slack and that's not easy. On average shots per game, Rae Burrell is the second most prolific shooter on the team. She loves to shoot, so expect her to take even more. But it just isn't enough.

UConn knows what it's like to lose their best player, but fortunately for UConn, they lost her early and is getting her back. Tennessee was on a downward trajectory before. This is send them tumbing even more.

They have to play at South Carolina next. A 20 point loss is now a 30+ point loss. And I'm being kind.

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By David in Naples

Overwhelming victory for UConn over an outmanned Xavier team, 89-35. Some wonderful stats for the Huskies. Many of them you don’t see often.

Consider:

1. Nika made 100% of her shots. (3-3)
2. Nika had 1 assist, but 7 players had 2 or more assists.
3. UConn played 10 players.
4. Six Huskies made 3 point baskets.
5. The bench scored 42 points and had 17 rebounds.
6. UConn shot 63% from the field and 47% from three range.
7. Xavier starters scored 14 total points.
8. UConn had a 37-0 run in the 2nd and 3 rd periods.
9. The Huskies scored more points in the 4th period than in the 1st. (22 vs 18)
10. Every player (10) scored at least 5 points.

Great win, should be a fun trip back to Storrs..!

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