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GO UCONN!!!!!
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Who will be UConn's against Georgetown??
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No. 7 UConn Huskies VS Georgetown Hoyas
22-5 (16-1) 10-18 (4-15)
Saturday 3/5/22
12:00 PM
Mohegan Sun Arena
Uncasville, CT
FS1
The first time these two teams met was on February 20th and UConn was finally getting healthy. They had everyone except Paige back. And that would happen soon after this game.
After a slow start, it was 26-17 when the Hiuskies went on a 19-2 run to end the first half. Most of that was keyed by the defense along with the mistakes that Georgetown would make. UConn has always been a fantastic team on the fast break and this game was just exceptional.
Christyn Williams once again led the team in minutes with 34 and points with 19. She also added 5 assists. She looks so comfortable on the court the last few games.
Fudd had an off shooting day from deep, but her pull up jumper is a thing of beauty. Perfect form, and she stops on a dime. So similar to Paige in that regard. The shot is unstopable. She played 23 minutes and scored 12 points and grabbed 5 rebounds and did some nice ball handling. She joined Dorka as the only two players without a turnover.
Nika Muhl is making it believable that this team can do some real damage even without Paige. She is hitting her outside shot, making great passes and playing her usual pesky defense. She played 23 minutes and was 3-5 on threes. She scored 11 points and added 4 rebounds, 4 asissts and SIX steals.
Dorka Juhasz is losing some playing time, getting on the court for only 13 minutes in this game. I'd guess she is still working her way back from her latest injury (foot?). But I love how she plays. She was 3-3 from the field and actually hit both of her free throws. Big improvement. She scored 8 points and grabbed 5 rebounds. Nice stats for those limited minutes.
Edwards played 24 minutes and while her stats don't jump out at you, she played a controlled game that I'm sure Geno really liked. She had 7 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal.
Is there a better 3 players off the bench in the country?
Evina Westbrook appears to have embraced her role. She has never looked more under control than she has since coming off the bench. She is still getting plenty of minutes, 25 in this game. And while off from the outside, she was amazing handling the ball and playing some really great defense. She scored 9 points, added 4 rebounds and 4 steals, all leading to fast break layups. She has continued to embrace her leadership role.
Olivia Nelson-Ododa is still feeling her way back after her groin injury. She did get 22 minutes in this game, and at times was effective, scoring 7 points and grabbing 5 rebounds. But she did have a stretch where the ball was like a greased pig. She ended up with 4 turnover, all in around 5 minutes. No doubt still rusty.
Talk about being all over the court. We all know the great offense that Carolina Ducharme brings to the table. And she did score 8 points in her 22 minutes. But the SIX steals really jump out at you. She is deceptively quick and uses her length to get in passing lanes and interecpt passes. She doesn't play like a freshman anymore.
How great is it to see DeBerry and Gabriel get some exteneded playing time. And little by little, they both are looking like they belong out there.
DeBerry hit another three pointer and in her 7 minutes she scored 7 points. Nice.
Gabriel only played 4 minutes but still had a basket allowing UConn to brag that all ten players scored for the second consecutive game.
It was another fun game to watch. I believe I predicted a 40+ win. 90-49 is pretty close.
Now Paige is back, UConn is playing even better so I expect more of the same. Even more more...lol.
Has anything changed for Georgetown since they last played UConn? Not really.
Only one player has started every game for the Hoyas, Milan Boldin-Morris, their leading scorer. The 5'10" grad student guard is very good at three point shooting (37.8%), and takes a lot of them, over 7 per game. But in the first game she only scored 6 points going 2-7 on threes.
Everyone else on the team will see minutes in this game. In fact, in the first game, the Hoyas played 11 players double digit minutes. Georgetown does have some height, but they aren't very athletic.
Georgetown is a low scoring, low percentage shooting, turnover producing, typical weak, bottom of the league team.
UConn shouldn't get off to a slow start this time. I expect them to run out to a big early lead and rotate their new NINE player rotation before we see DeBerry and Gabriel in the fourth quarter.
UConn by 40+.
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From the article I linked in the UConn Link Section -
“In today’s game, it’s a lot of layups and 3s,” Shade said. “My mid-range game separates me.”
Coach Buckley often positions Shade on the block, and that’s exactly where she was at the start of the fourth quarter to kill Franklin Community’s momentum. The Grizzly Cubs had cut the Millers’ lead to 10, but Shade made sure the run ended there, scoring amid fierce defensive pressure and drawing the foul. Once she converted the and-1, Buckley said it felt like Shade had “stolen Franklin’s soul.”
Coach Buckley often positions Shade on the block, and that’s exactly where she was at the start of the fourth quarter to kill Franklin Community’s momentum. The Grizzly Cubs had cut the Millers’ lead to 10, but Shade made sure the run ended there, scoring amid fierce defensive pressure and drawing the foul. Once she converted the and-1, Buckley said it felt like Shade had “stolen Franklin’s soul.”
2023 UConn Commit K K Arnold
39 points (13-22 FG, 4-7 3-PT, 9-10 FT), 9 assists, 6 rebounds, 6 steals
Germantown rallies from 11 down in the second half to advance to the sectional final.
Germantown rallies from 11 down in the second half to advance to the sectional final.
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GAMES
No. 2 Stanford Colorado - Late Game
No. 10 Michigan 73 Nebraska 76
No. 18 Tennessee Alabama - Late Game
No. 20 Notre Dame 71 No. 25 Georgia Tech 53
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Straight from the Dog
Here is the Committee after Friday night's games
Ok.....two seed here they come!!!!! Or will they?
2 seed LSU lost to unranked Kentucky in the SEC Quarterfinals. The Wildcats jumped out to a 20 point lead at the half and held on for the XX-XX win. As quickly as they jumped over the Huskies to grab the last 2 seed, they should quickly fall behind UConn.
Kentucky is really not a very good team. But this win should keep then in the tourney. They are now 17-11 and 9-8 in the SEC. And everyone likes a star and Rhyne Howard is just that. She had 32 big points for Kentucky.
So take that Committee. And screw you Charlie SECreme. Even though you predicted UConn could still end up a 2 seed in Bridgeport, we all know you don't want it to happen. Your statement that LSU would remain a 2 seed after this loss shows what a jerk you are.
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So, LSU losing doesn't do it? How about Michigan, another No. 2 seed, losing. The unranked Nebraska Cornhuskers pulled off this upset to win 76-73. Michigan was way behing, pulled ahead and had a 4 point lead with a little over four minutes remaining in the game. But Nebraska was tough and closed the game on a 9-2 run to win the game.
I was stunned that Michigan was still a 2 seed after losing in their last game by 24 points to Iowa. If this loss doesn't do it, well, I don't know what to say. I mean, they are 2-4 in their last six games. They haven't earned that 2 seed.
Yes, UConn to a 2 seed. I can't wait until Charlie's next Bracketology!!
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More upsets!!! What a season this has been for upsets!!
No. 3 ranked and 1 seed Louisville lost to unranked Miami 61-59 using a 23-7 fourth quarter to erase a 15 point lead with 5:45 left in the game. In fact, it was 59-44 at that point and Miami outscored Louisville 17-0 to beat the Cardinals.
Destiny Harden scored the last 15 points for Miami. Crazy. And she hit the game winner with 1 second left in the game.
Jeff Waltz tried to run out the clock and it backfired.
“I’ll take the blame for this. I tried to sub a little bit there at the end, trying to keep some fresh legs possibly thinking as you’re going through a tournament three games in hopefully three days, and we lost all of our rhythm offensively. And then we took some real poor shots, didn’t defend, didn’t guard. Everything that we needed to do to allow them to come back in the game, we did. That’s unfortunate for us, and again, I’ll take the blame for it. I’m not going to put the blame on these kids. It’s my fault.”
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No. 14 Indiana beat No. 11 Maryland 62-51. I'm always happy when Maryland loses. I not a big fan of Brenda Frese. Fifty-one points? The high scoring Terps? Will they stay a three seed? Stayed turned!!!
No. 21 Virginia Tech upset No. 16 North Carolina 87-80 in overtime.
Unranked Ole Miss could have knocked No. 23 Florida out of the top 25 with the 70-60 win over the Gators.
Wow, SIX more upsets.
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By David in Naples
UConn plays Georgetown tomorrow at noon in the 2nd round of the Big East tournament. The Huskies are finally healthy and hitting on all cylinders. The last 10 games have seen great improvement in scoring, assists, and overall play of the 5 on the floor. Here is a numerical comparison of certain stats over the last 10 games.
Field goal % - Up from 47.1% to 51.3%
Three point shooting - Up from 30.1% to 39.9% (Azzi effect?)
Free throws - Up from 66.4% to 77.5%
Assists - Up from 17.8 to 20.5 (goes along with better shooting)
Assists/turnover ratio - Up from 1.19 to 1.64
Steals - Up from 8.8 to 10.1
Certain stats have gone down, but they are the kind you want fewer of...
Fouls - Down from 14.3 to 13.3
Turnovers - Down rom 15 to 12.5 (very important)
Most important of all, points per game is up from 71.4 to 80.5 ppg. Having 9 great players means playing a full speed and bringing fresh legs into the game often. At this point, the bench is likely to have Evina, Dorka, Nika and CFD to come in for Paige, Christyn, Liv or Azzi. What a luxury..!!
Go Huskies..!!
Field goal % - Up from 47.1% to 51.3%
Three point shooting - Up from 30.1% to 39.9% (Azzi effect?)
Free throws - Up from 66.4% to 77.5%
Assists - Up from 17.8 to 20.5 (goes along with better shooting)
Assists/turnover ratio - Up from 1.19 to 1.64
Steals - Up from 8.8 to 10.1
Certain stats have gone down, but they are the kind you want fewer of...
Fouls - Down from 14.3 to 13.3
Turnovers - Down rom 15 to 12.5 (very important)
Most important of all, points per game is up from 71.4 to 80.5 ppg. Having 9 great players means playing a full speed and bringing fresh legs into the game often. At this point, the bench is likely to have Evina, Dorka, Nika and CFD to come in for Paige, Christyn, Liv or Azzi. What a luxury..!!
Go Huskies..!!
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UCONN LINKS
Several links are pay sites. Sorry!
Top Seeded UConn on a tear The Day
UConn healthy and ready for long post season run Republican American
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