Saturday, December 10, 2022

Doggy's UConn/Maryland Pregame Report

  

No. 6 UConn Huskies                                            No. 20 Maryland     7-1                                                                            8-3


Date: Sunday 
 December 11th, 2022
College Park, Maryland 
Time: 3:00
TV: ABC

Prior Meetings

MARYLAND | UCONN LEADS 
7-0 H: 2-0 | A: 2-0 | N: 3-0 

12/03/12 #2 UConn 63, #9 Maryland 48 Hartford, Conn. 
03/30/13 #3 UConn 76, #12 Maryland 50 Bridgeport, Conn. 
11/15/13 #1 UConn 72, #8 Maryland 55 College Park, Md. 
04/05/15 #1 UConn 81, #4 Maryland 58 Tampa, Fla. 
12/28/15 #1 UConn 83, #6 Maryland 73 New York, N.Y. 
12/29/16 #1 UConn 87, #4 Maryland 81 College Park, Md. 
11/19/17 #1 UConn 97, #15 Maryland 72 Hartford, Conn.
 
*******************************************************************
Maryland


Maryland has had a strange season. 8-3 so far, but some good wins and some bad losses.


They started the season with an easy win on the road against George Mason, winning 88-51. But they followed that up with a real stinker against No. 1 South Carolina losing by 25 points, 81-56. 


The Terps followed that up with a three game wining streak, beating 83-76 (only 7 points?), Davidson 70-52 and then topping that off with a 73-68 win over No. 17 Baylor.


Of course Maryland can't let a good thing continue. They lost to UConn's Big East conference mate DePaul 76-67.  But with two weak opponents up next, they beat Towson 81-70 and Pittsburgh 87-63.


In what would be considered their signature win, the Terrps beat Notre Dame in South Bend on a last second shot by Diamond Miller 74-72. Which they immediately followed by their worst loss of the season a 23 point loss to unranked Nebraska 90-67.


In their last game, they beat Purdue 77-74 on a last second three point shot.


A topsie turvie season for Maryland.    


 *******************************************************************
Comparative Team Statistics
(leader in bold)

                                                 UConn                                       Maryland 

                                              82.9        PPG                           74.8
                                              63.0        Defensive PPG            70.3
                                              19.9        Scoring Margin            4.5
                                              52.3        Field Goal %               42.2
                                              38.4        Defensive FG%           40.1 
                                              43.5        Three Point %             35.0
                                              30.4        Defensive 3PT%          33.3
                                              73.5        Free Throw %             78.1
                                              38.1        Rebounds/game           39.2
                                               7.5        Rebounding Margin        .1 
                                              20.9        Assists per game          15.1
                                              16.3        Turnover per game       14.7
                                                1.3        Assists/TO ratio             1.0
                                                8.6        Steals per game             8.5
                                                3.8        Blocks per game            3.4








Maryland Starters
 Game Analysis

Maryland is an interesting team. They start what looks like 5 guards. At least according to their team roster. But they are all big guards.

Let's start with their star, 6'3" senior Diamond Miller. I love her game. She is quick to the basket and has a ton of interior moves. Her pull up jumper is beautiful. She is leading the team in points at 18.5, rebounds at 7.1, foul shots taken, and blocks. Just an all around player that will be a top 5 pick in the WNBA draft. 

Second leading scoere is Princeton transfer grad student 6' Abbey Meyers. I was hoping she would pick UConn but I'm so happy they got Lou instead. Their contributions to their respective teams are very similar. Meyers is averaging 13.5 PPG and shooting 40.7% on threes. UConn is really going to have to work on covering her beyond the arc.     

The third double digit scorer on the Terps is 6'2" sophomore Shyanne Sellers. She is similar to Miller in her skills and is averaging 13.5 PPG. She hit the game winning three pointer at the buzzer in the win over Purdue. She shows no fear. 

6'1" senior Faith Masonius is the second leading rebounding on the team at 5.7 per game. The is the closest thing that Maryland has to a post player. 

The last starter is the point guard 5'8" grad student transfer from USF and of course a foreign player (Italy) Elisa Pinzan. She leads the team in assists but only 3.5 per game.

Off the bench is 6' sopmore Brinae Alexander. She is the best three point shooter percntage wise at 47.7% 

The other player off the bench that will see minutes is 6'1" senior Lavender Briggs. She is the weak link offesnviely, but will contribute with her on the ball defense.

It's really hard to analyize how this game should play out without knowing who will be playing for Uconn.

We know no Fudd. But we don't know if Muhl, Juhasz or Lou will be playing. Any or all three make a huge difference.

We do know a few things. Griffin will probably guard Miller. That will be a difference making matchup. I am really looking forward to that. 

Edwards will be a nightmare for Maryland. That really don't have anyone to guard her in the post. It's all about getting her the ball. 

As I mentioned, Meyers and Lou matching up? Love it. Two really good experienced players that will get their shots. Who will hit them more often? 

The wildcard for UConn is Ducharme. She needs to step up, especially if UConn is short handed.

Final Prediction


This is really hard. So many unknowns. Maryland is at home, and it will be a big advantage. UConn is just playing tough basketball no matter who is out.


I hate picking against UConn so I won't. The Huskies will pull this out.


UConn by 4+. 


Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)