Friday, March 3, 2023

Doggy's Doghouse UConn/Georgetown III Big East Quarter Final

   







  No. 9 UConn Huskies                                        Georgetown Hoyas
   26-5 (18-2)                                                             14-16 (6-14) 

 Saturday, March 4th 2023
Time: 12:00 PM
 Mohegan Sun Arena
Uncasville, Ct.  
TV: FS1 

Prior Meetings

GEORGETOWN | UCONN LEADS 51-6 
H: 26-2 | A: 20-4 | N: 5-0

Last Ten Games

02/27/10 #1 UConn 84, #11 Georgetown 62 Hartford, Conn. 
02/26/11 #1 UConn 52, #18 Georgetown 42 Washington, D.C. 
03/06/11 #1 UConn 59, #23 Georgetown 43 Hartford, Conn. 
03/27/11 #1 UConn 68, #23 Georgetown 63 Philadelphia, Pa. 
02/11/12 #3 UConn 80, # 14 Georgetown 38 Storrs, Conn. 
01/09/13 #3 UConn 75, Georgetown 48 Washington, D.C. 
01/23/21 #3 UConn 72, Georgetown 41 Storrs, Conn
1/15/23 #4 UConn 65, Georgetown 50 Hartford, Conn.
2/11/23 #4  UConn 67, Georgetown 59 Washington, D.C.  
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Georgetown




Georgetown Starters







 Game Analysis

Georgetown earned a third game against UConn by beating Butler 53-46 in a really physical game. Exactly what the Hoyas need to do against the Huskies. Georgetown just dominated the Butler offense, holding the Bulldogs to 31% shooting and 1-10 on threes. They also forced 16 turnovers. 

UConn had one of the weaker offensive games in the first Georgetown match up, beating the Hoyas 65-50. The Huskies only shot 41.3% from the field and 5-16 from the field. It was the first indication of fatigue as Fudd only played 12 minutes. Patterson wasn't available and the team seemed a little off after the Fudd injury. Thankfully their defense did the job.

In the second matchup, Georgetown played an inspired game and played some really physical defense. And as long as the refs let them do it, why not? They learned a lot from their first matchup and also how Marquette played in beating UConn the game before.  

Only a freshman, 5'8" guard Kennedy Faunteroy was so much better in 2nd game than the first one where she went 4-18. She was 10-16 from the field and 4-5 on threes. She scored 24 points and grabbed 6 rebounds. She was all over the court with 5 steals as well. Just a great game and bodes well for Georgetown and the Big East.   

Graceann Bennettt, a terrific 6'3" senior forward did a great job anchoring the Hoyas defense. A big body, she used it well. In the second game she had 11 points on 4-9 shooting and did a great job passing out of the post with 4 assists before fouling out. She should have fouled out by the third quarter.    

Kelsey Ransom, a 5'10" junior guard, is Georgetown's best player. In the last match up? Not so much. She was 2-14 from the field and 0-4 on threes.   

Kristina Moore is a 6'1" grad student. The best thing she did in the last match up was get Lou in foul trouble. She was 4-5 from the line and scored 6 points.   

Jada Claude, a 6' junior forward added 6 points and 4 rebounds.  

The bench didn't contribute much with 32 minutes, 7 points, 1 rebounds and 1 assist split among 3 players.

Once again UConn had to play their starters extended minutes. Juhasz and Griffin had 40 minutes each, and Muhl and Edwards had 39 each. Lopez Senechal only played 23 minutes only because of foul trouble. With Ducharme available, only Nika will have to play close to 40 minutes.

The Huskies can thank their lucky stars that they have Dorka on the team. She has been terrific this season. And she had another double double with 18 points and 15 rebounds. 

Aubrey had another terrific game, going 8-8 from the foul line and scoring 18 points in the game. She also added 4 assists. UConn needs a repeat performance in this game,

Edwards forced her game and that caused her to turn the ball over 8 times. The refs just refused to call fouls on her drives to the basket and she never adjusted to that. Just a mentally fatigued game for her. She did manage 13 points, 7 rebounds and 4 steals.  

Nika scared the crap out of me when she twisted her ankle after stepping on the back of Dorka's foot. She looked in incredible pain but managed to get taped up and return to the game. She only missed a minute. It was a tough game for her as well. She was fouled several times driving to the basket without the call. Brutal. She did hit 3-5 threes. Big threes. Overall, she had 10 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.

Lou had a terrible game. Fouling out after 23 minutes? And many of the fouls were just dumb. No doubt she is playing more fatigued than anyone else. Her knee a problem? The Huskies need her to play more like she did earlier in the season. She only had 5 points, missed all her threes and just looked out of sorts.

The bench did help a little in the 2nd game. Patterson needs to get some offensive confidence. She is afraid to shoot. But she really was a terror on the boards and grabbed 5 rebounds and played some good post defense in her 12 minutes. 

The Huskies won't be as short handed with Ducharme available for 25 minutes, and with 4 days rest,  the starters should be plenty rested. The big question is if Fudd has her hair in gameday pig tails. Her coming back, even for 10-15 minutes, would be a huge boost for the team.

Final Prediction

So, how will this game go? Man, it's not easy to figure. Which Faunteroy will show up? Can she really hit 4-5 threes again? Doubtful. Will UConn have another bad turnover game? Hard to say they won't as they had 23 in the previous two match ups. Under 20 would be a big difference maker. Edwards had 8 in the last game. She won't do that again.

Georgetown showed they are a tough team and will push UConn to the limit physically. The Huskies need to get better performances from Lou, who only scored 5 points in their last match up and from Ducharme, who wasn't available. If UConn shoots low 40's from the field and 25-30% on threes, it will be another struggle.  I think they will do better. 

And the two wild cards are the team's reaction to that brutal post game interview where Geno was as blunt as he could be about how he feels about their performance. Do they come out like gangbusters or repeat the uninspired games we have seen for a few weeks. The other wildcard is Fudd. Will she finally make that long awaited return from the knee issue that happened in the first Georgetown game. Wouldn't that be perfect?

And after checking around, I feel like she is going to play. 

I can't see Georgetown scoring more than 55 points and maybe UConn can get over 70? 

I'll stay positive and call it for UConn by 15+. 

GO UCONN!!!

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