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GO UCONN!!!!!
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Well, not much to say about this defeat. Surprising for sure. The team had played tough teams already this year and played well. But as all know, at Notre Dame is a different animal.
Congrats to the Irish. They played a very good game. They took advantage of the Huskies at every turn. And when Fudd went out, all hope for a comeback faded. The Huskies did make a run and had it as close as 7 points with the ball. But it wasn't to be. Notre Dame was too tough on the inside and outrebounded UConn by a ton.
Geno seemed pretty calm about Fudd's injury. He said “I think she’ll be alright. It was just one of those things that things happen and your own man falls on top of you. So she tried to go again, but obviously it didn’t look like she could move. So rather than rather than take any chances, I figured we’d take some precautions instead.”
Just a few positives in a pretty bad game for UConn -
Whilw Nika didn't hit her double digit assist total she had a nice game with 11 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists.
Lou is showing how important she is with her 21 points to lead the Huskies.
Edwards had a solid game with 14 points and 5 rebounds.
DeBerry had her second straight good outing, going 2-2 from the field and hitting her only three pointer. Will Geno find more minutes for her? It never appears to be the case, but maybe?????
There was some really bad though and you can't ignore it. Griffin had a terrible game. She was 1-12 from the field, and 1-5 on threes. It was clearly ND's gameplan to leave her open to shoot. When she couldn't hit, UConn was in trouble.
And my "what if" idea? What if Fudd didn't get hurt and had a 22 point second half? It's not like she is not capable of that.
My friend Cat put it best - "Meh. Not going to lose sleep over this one. No Dorka, no Azzi for most of the game and a bad game for others. No one should have expected UConn to go through this gauntlet without a loss. I would have no problem meeting this team down the road assuming all are healthy. Notre Dame is still loathsome."
Next up is a good Princeton team on Thursday night at Gampel. Geno sounded pretty optimistic about Fudd's availability and said this about Dorka - “We’ll see. She practiced a little bit yesterday, a little more yesterday and she went through shootaround today a little bit better. So we’ll see Tuesday and Wednesday how practice goes and then we’ll make that decision.”
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Congrats to one of the wackiest coaches that I can remember and one that for a few years, gave Geno and UConn all they could handle.
Rutgers named their basketball court after C. Vivian Springer in a ceremony at halftime of the Rutgers/Ohio State game. The Scarlett Knights gave the No. 4 Ohio State a tough game but couldn't pull it out losing 82-70.
Good luck C. Viv in whatever you do next.
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GAMES
UPSETS IN RED
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Straight from the Dog
Caitlin Clark had her seventh Triple-Double with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in Iowa's 102-71 win over Wisconsin. If only Paige Bueckers had the health of Clark....sigh. But contracts to Caitlin. She is a great player!!
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Four upsets in the Top 25 Sunday.
No. 20 Maryland, coming off a big win on the road against No. 7 Notre Dame were then upset by unranked Nebraska at home by 23 points 90-67. Wow. Talk about a let down. Nebraska who lost previously to Creighton by 26 points. No, that doesn't mean Creighton is 49 points better than Maryland...lol.
No. 18 Louisville lost to unranked Middle Tennessee State on the road by 18 points. More on them ahead.
The other two upsets were inter-conference games in the Big East.
The afformentioned No. 13 Creighton lost to St. John's 66-62. The Johnnies are still undefeated at 8-0. Will they crack the Top 25??
And No. 25 Marquette lost to Providence 82-78 in a great game.
So, do these games show that the Big East has a ton of parity? Or does that mean that the conference is just mediocre? I'll go with the parity and that the conference is really stong this season.
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I kinda like Jeff Walz. His story of overcoming his speach issues (stuttering) is inspiring. And he has built a terrific program in Louisville, although UConn has had his number.
But right now, they are going through a terrible time. The news that 6'1" Sophomore guard Payton Verhulst is entering the transfor portal and has left the team. She hasn't lived up to her 12th ranking position in the HS ESPN 2021 class. But losing a top player is never a good thing.
They are 2-4 in their last 6 games and have now lost their last two, by 19 to No. 4 Ohio State (not a bad loss) but then an 18 point loss to Middle Tennessee State.
It should be interesting to see if Jeff can turn this around.
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There was only one thing that could make me feel better about the UConn loss and that is a Tennessee loss. And they cooperated with a 59-56 loss to No. 9 Virginia Tech.
It's bad enough to lose at home, but Coach Harper decided to bench their top scorer, Rickea Jackson, the transfer from Mississippi State with no explaination except "coaches decision". Not only was she benched, she was in street clothes and the decisions was "indefinate". Wow!!
Jordan Horston did her best to keep the Lady Vols in the game, but she tends to do too much when called on. She took 24 shots to score her 26 points and she also grabbed 11 rebounds. She really is a physical talent but she really doesn't have the head for it.
This game was close to winning an UGGY. Virginia Tech shot 35% from the field and 28% on threes. Tennessee was worse with 33% shooting and 2-14 on threes.
Back to under .500 for Tennessee at 4-5. They have five OOC games before conference play starts and they will be favored in all except the Stanford game. If chalk holds true that would put them at 8-6 in their OOC schedule with only UConn left.
They will have to play better and Jackson will have to get her act together if they are going to even make the tournament.
Remember the last game when Jackson went straight to the locker room to skip the handshake line? Maybe that was a reason to bench her, as a lesson.
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UCONN LINKS
Several links are pay sites. Sorry!
Lots of articles on the loss. Google them. I can't link anymore, too upsetting...lol.
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