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GO UCONN!!!!!
So, does it make me a bad person that I was rooting for Marquette to hit a three pointer to make the margin of victiory 28 points like I predicted? Within 3 points is still pretty darn good.
It was another typical UConn/Marquette slugfrest. It's a game that The Golden Eagles can't win, but then again, it's the only chance they have.
As Geno said, they run their offense, they are tough and they are physical.
UConn did a great job in the first half disrupting the Marquette offense. They held them to 14 points, 28.6% from the field and 0-2 on threes. The Huskies forsced 12 turnovers.
UConn's offense was a little out of kilter. But give credit to Marquette. They blanketed Fudd and really made it hard for UConn to find open shots.
Nelson-Ododa returned to the starting lineup and scored 8 points in the half. After Muhl's second bad foul in the first two minutes of the game, Westbrook came off the bench to lead the Huskies with 9 points at the break.
Geno said "Nika fouls in warmups and at timeouts."
The third quarter was just awful. It was hard to even watch. Marquette started the quarter on a 7-0 run and the Huskies had to call time out. Their 17 point halftime lead was cut to ten. Geno must have said the magic words as the Huskies went on an 8-0 run of their own, started by a Fudd three pointers and then punctuated by a Westbrook three pointer and it was Marquette's turn to call a time out.
That 18 point lead grew to 26 points at the half behind the Westbrook and Fudd show. Azzi and Westbrook both had 8 points in the quarter.
The fourth quarter was more of the same and UConn stretched the lead out to 33 points before the final 69-38 win.
It was another team effort. Olivia Nelson-Ododa did a great job in her first game back in the starting lineup. She had 10 points, 6 assists and 6 rebounds along with 3 blocks. Great game!
Dorka got smacked right in the mouth and had to leave the game and headed right to the locker room. She might need stiches. We will find out later.
There was no foul called, one of several poor officiating decisions by the refs. They saw travels that weren't there, missed a few as well, and the game was way too physical to have so few fouls called. I don't remember either team in the penalty bonus at any time in the game.
Next up is St. John's on Friday night. Should be another slug fest. Oy.
Game Highlights
Geno Post Game Interview
Westbrook, Nelson-Ododa, Edwards
Postgame Interview
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#GetToKnow Ayanna Patterson@ayannap34 is one of our 2022 @jerseymikes Naismith Girls’ High School Player of the Year Finalists. Patterson, a senior at Homestead High School, led the Spartans to a Class 4A-6 sectional championship in 2022 with a 32 point, 14 rebound performance. pic.twitter.com/ftE2fwKbxh
— The Naismith Trophy (@NaismithTrophy) February 23, 2022
The @uconnwbb commit averages 25.4 points, and just grabbed her 1,000 rebound of her career. Patterson is planning to study both business and graphic design, and she wants to one day own a facility where athletes can receive help with their mental stresses. pic.twitter.com/JWjMtRoAch
— The Naismith Trophy (@NaismithTrophy) February 23, 2022
UCONN interest in 20205 Jasmine Davidson coming early per Hoops Central
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GAMES
No. 25 Oregon at Colorado - Late Game
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Phil did a great job in his section talking about the 2 seeds that Charlie SECreme has in his latest Bracketology.
He listed to Top Four Seeds and their remaining games. But he didn't list the remaining games for the possible 2 seeds. I'll list the tough ones.
Baylor - Iowa State and Big 12 Tournament
Michigan - Iowa and Big 10 Tournament
LSU - Tennessee and SEC Tournament
Iowa State - Baylor and Big 12 Tournament
Arizona - Pac 12 Tournament
Texas - Big 12 Tournament
UConn - Big East Tournament
I'd give UConn the best chance of winning out and grabbing a No. 2 seed.
Arizona will have to beat Stanford.
Texas will have to beat either Baylor or Iowa State.
LSU will have to beat Tennessee and South Carolina (or another SEC team)
Baylor has to beat Iowa State or a rematch or Texas.
Michigan has a tough game against Iowa and the Big 10 Tournament.
If the cards fall right, Maryland has a shot at a 2 seed as well.
Gonna be a great couple of weeks before the final seedings are revealed.
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A UConn fan posted that great video of Paige Bueckers practicing on the Tennessee board Volnation.com.
The dialog was uh....interesting. Let's peek in.....
A South Carolina fan had his take on Bueckers coming back.
"PB, Fudd and Ducharme together, will be interesting to see shot distributions. Could be a deadly combo or could be a hard mesh for awhile. I suspect PB is lead dog as soon as she gets on the court again, but the other two may have something to say about that. Prob Ducharme goes back to the bench as a 6th player to spot the other two once PB is ready to start. If so, she is a heck of a 6th to have. She would be averaging 16+ a game as a freshman starter at most schools. UConn is going to be so dangerous in the tourney, 3 very solid to very good bigs to compliment the trio of shooters mentioned plus Williams….and their PG is starting to really play well"
It's pretty positive about the Huskies. The South Carolina fans seem to be a little smarter than the Orange Idiots. I don't see how it could be a hard mesh for awhile. Paige won't let that happen. But the Tennessee fan UConn experts had their usual inaccurate take.
"Didn't they have all of their players when South Carolina blew them out earlier in the season?"
Uh, no. It was only UConn's fourth game so Ducharme was not coming off the bench yet. Fudd only played 10 minutes with her sore foot. And I wouldn't call it a blowout. UConn was onlty down 6 points with 5 minutes left in the game before they fell apart and was outscored 10-0 to end the game.
And Tennessee lost by 14 points to South Carolina and the Vol fans would so excited how close they kept the game. Too funny.
"I think that since that first game, both Fudd and Ducharme have gotten a lot better. Since that time also, Rivers and Hall have improved as well so there's no advantage gained. "
Uh....Fudd and Ducharme are averaging 12 PPG since the South Carolina loss. Fivers and Hall are averaging 2.6 PPG since that game. No advanged gained? Hardly.
"I'm not convinced that Fudd or Ducharme can guard SC's guards when they are driving to the basket without fouling. Azzi is on the court to score points, but if she can't play defense, then her negatives will outweigh her positives. Ducharme is foul prone and doesn't play smart defense."
Ducharme won't be guarding those quick guards. That will be Williams, Westbrook and Muhl. Fudd has been playing much better defense. And to even say her defensive liabilities outweigh her positives is as dumb as it gets. Ducharme is foul prones? She has never fouled out and averages 2 fouls in 25 minutes per game. Hardly foul prone.
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I've said this before. Tennessee doesn't have the only dumb fans. Here is a beauty from a clueless UConn fan.
"Today is week 10 since Bueckers surgery on Dec. 13. According to Geno, she's not playing this last week of regular season. Let's not do what some other teams do and have their players come back when maybe the safest thing to do is sit out the rest of season. Right now we have everyone back. Let's go with the 8 deep that rotate in plus the other 2 on the bench. "
First let me say that this jamoke isn't the only one that thinks he should decide if Bueckers should come back and play. I've seen a ton of posts saying the same thing. It's just stupid. How can any fan think that Geno would allow Paige to come back if it meant that she was risking additional injury? If she is cleared to play and she feels good about it, she will come back. The nerve of fans thinking otherwise. And particular to this person, other teams have their players come back when they shouldn't? Which coaches do that?
I can't wait to see Paige back.
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Seedings
Currently, there are some answers that are virtually certain, while others are very much up in the air. I’m going to look at four different metrics:
• AP (21 Feb)
• Coaches (22 Feb)
• Massey (22 Feb)
• NCAA NET (22 Feb)
These are not all comparable.
The NCAA NET was designed as an upgrade to RPI, and specifically exists as a starting point for selections. That said, the selection committee has stated that they will use it as one input, while emphasizing that they looked at a variety of measures. They’ve also claimed they don’t put a lot of weight on either the AP or coaches poll, and I don’t think they have specifically talked about Massey, but if they are planning to look at a variety of measures it seems hard to believe that those three sources would not be part of the mix.
Let’s start with the one seed. There is close to unanimity that the following teams:
1. South Carolina
2. Stanford
3. NC State
4. Louisville
These teams will be the one seeds barring a major meltdown by one of the teams. Not only is there unanimity about the names of the teams, but there is also close to unanimity about the order, with only the NCAA NET swapping Stanford and NC State in the second and third positions.
South Carolina has two games left, with win probabilities of 87% and 89%. Massey has less than one chance in four that there will be a loss. However, even if they do have a loss, that will still leave them with the best record of the top 15 teams, so they are unlikely to drop even one place with a loss.
Stanford is in even better shape. The remaining two games have when probabilities of 98% and 95%. Winning isn’t going to move them up, and a single loss is unlikely to move them down.
NC State has only one game left, against Virginia Tech. NC State is favored by six points, which means a loss is a realistic possibility. A loss might leave them in third or might lead to swapping with Louisville, but not likely to move them off the one seed line.
Louisville has the toughest challenge. Two games left win, one against Pittsburgh which is almost certainly a win, while the other is at Notre Dame where the probability of winning is 57%. A loss is possible but probably not enough to move them behind UConn
The two seeds are a different story.
AP
5. Baylor
6. Michigan
7. UConn
8. LSU
Coaches
Let’s start with the one seed. There is close to unanimity that the following teams:
1. South Carolina
2. Stanford
3. NC State
4. Louisville
These teams will be the one seeds barring a major meltdown by one of the teams. Not only is there unanimity about the names of the teams, but there is also close to unanimity about the order, with only the NCAA NET swapping Stanford and NC State in the second and third positions.
South Carolina has two games left, with win probabilities of 87% and 89%. Massey has less than one chance in four that there will be a loss. However, even if they do have a loss, that will still leave them with the best record of the top 15 teams, so they are unlikely to drop even one place with a loss.
Stanford is in even better shape. The remaining two games have when probabilities of 98% and 95%. Winning isn’t going to move them up, and a single loss is unlikely to move them down.
NC State has only one game left, against Virginia Tech. NC State is favored by six points, which means a loss is a realistic possibility. A loss might leave them in third or might lead to swapping with Louisville, but not likely to move them off the one seed line.
Louisville has the toughest challenge. Two games left win, one against Pittsburgh which is almost certainly a win, while the other is at Notre Dame where the probability of winning is 57%. A loss is possible but probably not enough to move them behind UConn
The two seeds are a different story.
AP
5. Baylor
6. Michigan
7. UConn
8. LSU
Coaches
5. Michigan
6. Iowa State
7. Baylor
8. LSU/UConn
Massey
5. UConn
6. Baylor
7. Texas
8. Iowa State
NET
5. North Carolina
6. UConn
7. Texas
8. Baylor
- There are six different teams for the four slots.
- UConn is in every one of the other lists in fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth position.
- Baylor is the only other team in each of the first four rankings.
Two things jump out at me. Crème’s bracketology has Arizona as a two seed, despite not being in the top eight in any of the rankings from the last two days.
Charlie has UConn as a three seed, despite being fifth sixth seventh or eighth in all of the rankings in the last two days. Why is that?
Two things jump out at me. Crème’s bracketology has Arizona as a two seed, despite not being in the top eight in any of the rankings from the last two days.
Charlie has UConn as a three seed, despite being fifth sixth seventh or eighth in all of the rankings in the last two days. Why is that?
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By David in Naples
Great one sided victory for UConn against Marquette by a score of 69-38. Stat wise, the 1st period and next 5 minutes of the game were as strange as one could imagine.
Consider:
1. In the 1st period, only Liv and Evina scored all 15 points. Each was 3-3 from the field.
2. Four starters (AE, CW, Nika, and Azzi) had 0 points.
3. Fudd didn’t even have a shot.
4. The Huskies had 10 rebounds, 4 steals and held MU to 8 points.
The next five minutes added to the weird feel of the game.
1. Marquette scored only 1 basket.
2. Liv and Evina didn’t score, but Aaliyah, Dorka and Caroline added 8 points.
3. Fudd still didn’t have a shot. Just 2 turnovers.
4. MU had 8 turnovers and just 4 baskets.
5. With the score 25-10, the game was over.
6. UConn’s bench had 13 points, the starters 12. When was the last time that happened?
The remainder of the game played out as expected, but UConn’s dominance in the first 15 minutes secured the victory.
2. Liv and Evina didn’t score, but Aaliyah, Dorka and Caroline added 8 points.
3. Fudd still didn’t have a shot. Just 2 turnovers.
4. MU had 8 turnovers and just 4 baskets.
5. With the score 25-10, the game was over.
6. UConn’s bench had 13 points, the starters 12. When was the last time that happened?
The remainder of the game played out as expected, but UConn’s dominance in the first 15 minutes secured the victory.
Next up, Friday against St. John’s.
Go Huskies..!
Go Huskies..!
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UConn coasts past Marquette Courant
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