Day: Sunday
Date: November 20 , 2022
Time: 1:00 PM
Location: XL Center Hartford, CT
TV: FS1
2-0 4-0
NC STATE | UCONN LEADS 7-2
H: 1-1 | A: 2-0 | N: 4-1
03/21/91 #13 UConn 82, #7 NC State 71 Philadelphia, Pa.
12/29/91 #13 NC State 62, #19 UConn 59 Storrs, Conn.
12/10/94 #2 UConn 98, NC State 75 Raleigh, N.C.
03/23/98 #10 NC State 60, #3 UConn 52 Dayton, Ohio
03/24/01 #1 UConn 72, #18 NC State 58 Pittsburgh, Pa.
11/24/02 #6 UConn 78, NC State 50 Raleigh, N.C.
12/29/03 #1 UConn 87, NC State 53 Hartford, Conn.
03/24/07 #4 UConn 78, #18 NC State 71 Fresno, Calif.
03/28/22 #6 UConn 91 #3 NC State 87 2OT Bridgeport, Conn.
NC State Season to Date
The Wolfpack come into this game with a 4-0 record. They beat Quinipiac 82-45, Elon 89-55, Mt. Saint Mary's 86-38 and Charlotte 96-48. Not exactly "murderers row". But considering that they lost 4 starters from last seasons Elite Eight team, maybe not a bad idea to get them all come easy court time before entering the hornet's next at the XL Center against UConn.
UCONN
are clickable to see their Bios
UConn Starters
UConn Injuries
OUT FOR THE SEASON
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NC State
NC State Starters
NC State Bench
Hmmm.....when was the last time these two teams met? Seems like it was an interesting game. Oh yeah, only the best women's basketball game of all time!!! A double overtime game with UConn winning 91-87 behind an incredible late game performance by Paige Bueckers. Ok...now just forget about that game. This one will be nothing like it.
Of course the obvious reasons are that it's not an Elite Eight game, and it means nothing in the scheme of things regarding this season.
But the main reason is the players.
UConn has only Fudd and Edwards back as starters. They brought Muhl, Ducharme, and Juhasz off the bench. We all know about UConn so lets delve into the Wolfpack.
Without Cunane, Perez, Jones and Crutchfield, four of their starters last season, it's really an entirely new team with players having more responsibility than any time in their careers.
NCST has only one starter back in senior 6' wing Jakia Brown-Turner. In that EE game she was their leading scorer with 20 points in 48 minutes. She can hit the three pointer but her thing is driving to the basket and running on the fast break. She is a terrific and loves to get up and down the court.
5'5" junior Diamond Johnson came off the bench last season. As the starting point guard, she is a big spark plug. Short but thick and uses that to get open spaces to score. She is the leading the team in scoring and takes the most three pointers, taking over 4 long range shots per game. Johnson has started the season hot. In the 2 OT game she played 18 minutes and scored 8 points. She hit two big three pointers.
Joining Johnson and Brown-Turner in the starting lineup are 6'2" junior forward Jada Boyd, 6' junior guard Madison Hayes, and 6'3" senior Camille Hobby. Other than Brown-Turner with 36 starts last season, the rest of this years starting lineup has only a total of 9 starts between the other four players. Big difference.
Boyd is a strong forward who is a relentless rebounder on both ends of the floor. She is strong inside and like everyone else on the team can also step out and shoot the three. But like Hobby, she just doesn't take many. She scored 14 points in only 16 minutes and was a big reason NCST stayed in that 2 OT game.
Hobby has good strength on the block and plays extremely hard. She can score in a variety of ways, whether it be inside with post moves or from the trail position with a soft touch on the three. But she doesn't take that many with only 36 in her entire career. She is also surpringly quick for her size. This is the first season she is starting and seeing serious minutes. She only played 2 minutes and had 2 fouls in the 2 OT game.
Hayes originally played for Mississippi State before transfering to NCST before her sophomore season. She is a player good player in all three phases of the game. Offensively, she can get to the rim as well knock down the three. But her shooting percentatge is only 32% while at NCST. Defensively, her combination of strength and quickness allows her to be a solid 1-1 defender.
Off the bench they have 6'3" graduate student Mimi Collier. I'm sure many that read this rememver her at Tennessee and then transferreing to Maryland. She transfered to NCST for her final season. As the No. 9 prospect in her senior year of HS, she really has never reached the lofty heights expected from a recruit of that level. Still, she is a solid player off the bench.
Another transfer coming off the bench is 6'1" guard Saniya Rivers. Certainly familiar name, Rivers was the No. 2 players in the 2021 class, right below Fudd. Signed by South Carolina, she never looked like that level player all season her freshman year. Unhappy with the Gamecocks, she will try to maximize her game with the Wolfpack. So far meh....time will tell.
The final player with double digit minutes is 5'8" sophomore guard Jessica Timmons. She is a very good three point shooter but hasn't taken many this season. She has long range for sure.
So, different lineups but same coach. They love to take threes. They are taking 17.5 per game compared to 20 per game last season. Still a good amount. And shooting them is just about anyone on the floor. They shoot them off screens, off the break and pretty much shoot them when they are open. They lost their star center Cunane to graduation. She was a tough matchup for any big. Replacing her was just about impossible. So defending the three is easier without worrying about an All American center. The other graduating players Perez, Jones and Crutchfield were 118-285, 41.4% on their threes. The returning players are on fire so far this season. Johnson is 10-15, Hayes is 6-13, James is 4-10, and Timmons is 5-7. As a teamso far they are shooting 44.3%. Yes, against very weak opponents, but you still have to make them and so far they are. UConn is going to have to stay on the shooters.
Noy only does everyone shoot threes on this team, but everyone rebounds. They have 8 players rebounding between 4 and 6 rebounds per game. No one dominates the boards. That comes from how hard they hustle after the ball. Impressive.
Just as impressive is their ability to handle the ball. They have a total of 65 assists and only 39 turnovers.
The Wolfpack play primarily man-to-man defense and usually play it well. Last year their switching was so good somethimgs it looked like they are playing a zone. It's yet to be seen if that will be the same with this roster, but so far they are holding their opponents to 32.3% from the field and 20.4% on threes.
Final Prediction
Two different teams from their last matchup but I can't say I believe that both are at the same level that they were last season. Yes, Wes Moore is a great coach, but from what I can see, they are a notch down from that Elite Eight team that played UConn so well. The Huskies, on the other hand, seem to me have reloaded and looked great in their easy win against No. 3 Texas.
We know how UConn does against a high quality opponent. The question is how NCST will do after playing four cupcakes. Will they struggle against the fat free, sugar free version of the Huskies?
I believe UConn's defense is going to hold NCST to under 70 and UConn should be able to crack the 80 point mark.
UConn by 12+.
I think Caroline is a sophomore. Glad to have you back. Missed your commentary.
ReplyDeletegreat job on the analysis, DD. so glad you're back.
ReplyDelete