Doggydaddy's Den: Doggy's Doghouse 11/17/2023

****************************************************

Even my daughter (mother to Logan and Barrett)

is looking for my Blog!!!

GO UCONN!!!!!

***********************************************

80 48

Well, that was better. Even without Azzi Fudd available, UConn brought the hammer to Maryland, beating the Terps 80-48. The Huskies were down 22-20 with around 4 minutes left in the 2nd quarter and after Bueckers was call for an intentional foul (one of many bad calls), the Huskies went on a 20-4 run to end the first half up 42-27. It was old school UConn, turning great defense into easy offense.

UConn controled the second half and slowly built the lead to 57-36 at the end of the third quarter. The final quarter was more of the same. Great defense turned into instant offense. It was great to see UConn continue to score no matter who was in the game and 23 points in the fouth quarter led to the 32 point win.

The game was really really and one more really physical with bodies all over the floor. But UConn held firm and gave as good as it got. Maryland is physical bordering on dirty and it had me yelling at the TV. Paige drove to the basket and was hip checked to the ground for the "and 1". And those kinds of plays, contact with no purpose, are so dangerous. Thankfully she bounced up and hit the free throw. She was also poked in the eye that had her on the bench for several minutes.

The good news in this game was that after giving up 90+ points in the first game, they applied great defensive pressure, had their hands in the passing lanes for steals, blocked a ton of shots and turned over the Terps 27 times.

The Huskies didn't shoot that well from deep going 6-19 and they also gave up way too many offensive rebounds. Maryland had 16.

But the good outweighed the bad by plenty and it's a game that the Huskies can build on.

Bueckers looked great in the game. She was all over the court on defense. She had six steals and two blocks. Her timing is just amazing. Offensively she scored 24 points on 10-15 shooting, 2-3 on threes. But it's her intensity and emotion in the game that carries her and her teammates. Just wait until that stupid brace is off her thumb!!

Her backcourt mate mirrored her intensity. Muhl was great in this game although her stats are just ok. She only scored 5 points but she handed out 5 terrific assists. Her on the ball defense made it difficult for Maryland to get into their offense. Her early three pointer was sweet but she was only 1-3 from deep.

Edwards had a tough game. She just didn't look comfortable with the ball in the paint. She turned the ball over six times. A third of the UConn turnovers. She did score 12 points and grabbed 4 rebounds. And she added 3 steals and 2 assists. But those turnovers are just wasted possesions.

Ducharme had a really tough time in this game. She just genrally looked off. She was stuck on ones. One rebound, one assists and only one point. She also had one block. Chalk it up to just a bad night? I hope so. Geno commnted that she just didn't look right and he didn't know if her 11 minutes were her or him. He took the blame. We will see Sunday in Minnesota.

Griffin took the really bad rebounding in the NCST loss to heart. She was all over the boards. She grabbed 13 rebounds and FIVE offensive rebounds. She also added 9 points. Oh, did I mention she had FOUR blocks? Yes, I shouted twice about Griffin. She deserved the shout out!

The bench was great in this game and that means the freshmen were great. Well, almost all. 29 points from the bench is awesome.

After starting out like a ball of fire this season, Samuels showed that freshmen are freshmen and there will be good games and bad games. Her overall game was not bad. She just didn't hit the shots she had made in the first two games. Q was 0-4 from the field, 0-3 on threes. She did make a free throw but she was only 1-2 there for her only point. Hey, it's just one game. She will bounce back.

Brady, I thought, is starting to get it. Her positioning was better. She played tough in the paint. And she hit a really nice three point shot. She only scored 5 points and grabbed 3 rebounds. But she just looked better. I loved that she played several minutes with Edwards, giving UConn some realy size on the court.

Arnold really bounced back from a terrible game against NCST. Geno didn't even trust her to play many minutes in that game. With Fudd out, KK got plenty of minutes and she made the most of it. She scored 10 point on 5-6 shooting, handed out 5 assists and had 5 steals. She also hit a three pointer after airmailing her first attempt from deep. She is really strong in finishing at the basket and picked her spots well with only one turnover.

My favorite player in this game other than Bueckers was Ashlynn Shade. The freshman had zero minutes in the NCST game but Geno much have seen something in practice as she saw a ton of minutes in this one. And she made the most of it. She scored 10 points on 4-7 shooting and hit a 3 pointer. I just like her overall game. She cuts to open spots at the basket, has a nice mid-range jumper and is just a pest on defense.

I admit that I was really worried with the slow start but this game was totally enjoyable.

Up next is Minnesota where it will be Paige's homecoming game. It could be a real Huskie crowd there.

Game Box Score

**************************************************

Videos

Game Highlights

Geno Postgame Interview

Paige, Aubrey and KK Postgame Interivew

Maryland Postgame Interivew

**************************************************

** Designates Upset

Thursday, 11/16

Scores and Links

No. 1 South Carolina 109 Clemson 40

No. 2 Iowa 58 Kansas State 65 **

No. 6 Stanford 86 Cal Poly 32

No. 9 Virginia Tech 105 Houston Christian 36

No. 13 Ohio State 88 Boston College 66

No. 19 Louisville 111 Bellarmine 33

No. 22 Creighton 53 Green Bay 65 **

**********************************************************

@GandyMamel8 extremely coachable and respectful. Everyone loves her! Her work ethic is unmatched. Sky is the limit. Appreciate @TinyGreenNBS https://t.co/zogw36vFii
— Knights WBB (@GSB_WBB) November 16, 2023

6'5" Gandy is a commit for the class of 2025. Folks always seem to forget about her when clammering for height.

**************************************************

Straight from the Dog

And No. 2 Iowa goes down AT HOME to unranked Kansas State 65-58. K-State was down 58-53 and then scored the last 12 points of the game. Amazing.

Superstar Caitlin Clarke scored 24 points but her stats shows she took it all on herself with not great success. She was 9-32 from the field and 2-16 on threes. Sometimes you just have to not shoot. That is not in her DNA.

Akoya Lee, back after missing all last year with that terrible knee injury is back. She had 22 points and 12 rebounds and was just a presence in the paint. And what a sweet kid. What a great post game interivew. If I can find it I'll post it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There were so many choices for an UGGY award. But I decided to give the award to the ranked teams that embarressed themselves by playing such weak opponents.

No. 1 South Carolina 109 Clemson 40

No. 6 Stanford 86 Cal Poly 32

No. 9 Virginia Tech 105 Houston Christian 36

No. 19 Louisville 111 Bellamine 33

Blech....and UGGY!!!!

*****************************************

By PHIL

Milestone watch

• Aaliyah Edwards had 1232 career points after the Dayton game. She scored 21 in the NC State game. Her 1254 passes Kris Lamb and Megan Walker. She is now 41st.

• Nika Mühl had 438 assists after the Dayton game. She recorded 6 in the NC State game. She passed Kia Nurse for 20th place.

**************************************************

STATS

Plus one for every assist block point rebound and steal. I don’t add extra for offensive rebounds as it already seems to favor the bigs. Minus one for every missed shot (2, 3 or foul), turnover or foul committed.

UConn 96 Maryland 2.

Total net good things: Paige 27, Aubrey 22, KK 20, Aaliyah 12, Ashlynn 9, Ice 5, Nika 5, Ines 0, Qadence 0, Amari -1, Caroline -3.

Per minute: Paige .90, Aubrey .79, KK .71, Ashlynn .60, Ice .38, Aaliyah .34, Nika .19, Ines 0, Qadence 0, Caroline -.27, Amari -.50.

The per minute ranks pretty much match the totals because Geno played the players who played better more.

Season totals: Paige 58, Aaliyah 52, Aubrey 43, KK 38, Nika 30, Qadence 21, Ashlynn 15, Azzi 9, Caroline 3, Ice 1, Ines -1, Amari -1.

Season per minute: Aubrey .77, Paige .72, KK .64, Aaliyah .56, Ashlynn .48, Qadence .43, Nika .38, Azzi .15, Caroline .07, Ice .03, Ines -.13, Amari -.14.

Hopefully, NC State will be the only game of Ashlynn’s career with no playing time.

********************************************************

UCONN LINKS

Several links are pay sites. Sorry!

Bueckers scores 24 points, leads UConn to victory

Paige leads UConn to win over Maryland

Fudd misses UConn win over Maryland

Fudd misses UConn game after non-contact knee injury

No. 20 Maryland crushed by No. 8 UConn

Maryland women dismantled by UConn

UConn rebounds from loss in win over Maryland

********************************************************