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No. 4 UConn Huskies No. 27 Iowa State
9-1 9-3
Tuesday, December 17th 2024
Time: 8:30 PM
Basketball HOF Showcase
Mohegan Sun Arena
Uncasville, Ct
TV: FS1
Prior Meetings
.IOWA STATE | UCONN
UConn LEADS 2-1
H: 1-0 | A: 0-0 | N: 1-1
12/31/90 #20 UConn 69, Iowa State 56 Storrs, Conn.
03/12/99 Iowa State 64, #4 UConn 58 Cincinnati, Ohio
03/28/10 #1 UConn 74, #16 Iowa State 36 Dayton, Ohio
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Iowa State Season to Date
Iowa State started the season off with four straight wins against weak opponents. They beat Chicago State 96-56, Indiana State 64-42, Southern 84-56 and St. Thomas-Minnesota 80-47.
A loss to Northern Iowa 87-75 started a 4-3 record over their last seven games. They had a close call against Drake 80-78, and were destroyed by at the time No. 4 South Carolina 76-36.
Three games against overmatched opponents put them on a good track. They beat Middle Tennessee State 75-59, South Carolina Upstate 92-35, and Central Michigan 82-56.
They then lost a tough game against Iowa 75-69, They blew a 6 point lead going into the fourth quarter.
And in the game before the UConn match up, the Cyclones used a big second half to hammer Eastern Illinois 87-55.
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Comparative Team Statistics
(leader in bold)
UConn Iowa State
79.0 PPG 75.7
51.9 Defensive PPG 60.6
27.1 Scoring Margin 15.1
51.0 Field Goal % 45.5
35.0 Defensive FG% 35.8
33.8 Three Point % 33.6
32.5 Defensive 3PT% 31.7
67.7 Free Throw % 66.3
38.2 Rebounds/game 40.1
7.0 Rebounding Margin 4.9
21.3 Assists per game 20.1
11.1 Turnover per game 14.9
1.9 Assists/TO ratio 1.3
10.8 Steals per game 8.6
3.7 Blocks per game 4.5
UCONN
The player and coaches names for both teams
are clickable to see their Bios
are clickable to see their Bios
UConn Starters
UConn Injuries
(In order of expected return)
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Iowa State
Iowa State Starters
Iowa State Bench
There is not much history between these two teams. Only three games between them. 1990, 1999 and 2010. UConn has a 2-1 advantage.
This is a top heavy team with only two players scoring double digits on the season.
They are led by 6'3" Sophomore Center Audi Crooks. She leads the team in scoring at 20.8 PPG. Not an outside threat she uses her size advantage to post up and once she has the ball inside, it's all over but the scoring. Shooting 59% from the field, she also get's too the foul line around 6 times per game. Unfortunately for ISU she is only shooting 59.7% from the line. She averages 8.6 RPG and grabs almost 3 offensive rebounds per game. Her game reminds me somewhat of Courtney Paris.
The other double digit scorer is Addy Brown, a 6'2" Sophomore Forward. She is scoring at a 14 PPG clip and is a terrific rebounder at 7 RPG. She is shooting 54.1% from the field and unlike Crooks, she can and will take three point shots. She is shooting them at 43%.
Kenzie Hare is a 5'9" Junior Guard. She by far has taken the most three point shots on the team. Unfortunately for Iowa State, she has been struggling with a hip injury and finally decided to end her season and take care of it. Best of luck to her.
Emily Ryan is a 5'11" Senior Guard. A four year starter, she is the most experienced player on the team. Now the third leading scorer with Hare not for the season, she is averaging 7.9 PPG. She leads the team in assists with 79 averaging 7 per game. And she only has 32 turnovers. She also leads the team in steals with 27.
Two Sophomore guards round out the starting lineup.
Arriana Jackson is having a tough season offensively. She is averaging only 4.1 PPG and her shooting is just bad at 27.9% from the field and 30.8% on threes. Kelsey Joens is the sister of Iowa State's all time scorer Ashley. Quite a legacy to live up to and she is struggling to do that. Joens is averaging 3.7 PPG on 43% fhoot. She does shoot 38.1% on threes..
6'1" Junior Guard/Forward Sydney Harris is the best player off the bench. She averages 6.4 PPG on 46% shooting and is solid from long distance. She doesn't take many, averaging ibky 3 takes per game but shoots them at a 48% clip.
Aili Tanke is the only other play I expect to see in this game. The 5'11" Freshman Guard is averaging 3.7 PPG. Another player that doesn't take many threes but hits at a high percentage at 38.7%
Junior Lilly Hansford is a big Guard at 6'2" and has had a horrible shooting season so far. Scoring only .5 PPG, she is shooting 2-26 from the field and 2-24 on threes.
I've watched a couple of ISU games. Offensively they look for Crooks as their first option. Can't blame them. She is a real handful. As a team they shoot 33.6% on threes but that is really deceiving. Two players really bring down their average. Hare, who is out for the season and Hansford, who only plays 11 MPG are 19-87 between them. Take that out of the calcuiation and as a team the Cyclones shoot 39% on threes. UConn will have to defend both the post and the three point line.
Defensively, ISU plays strictly a man-to-man. It's not bad with Crooks sliding off to help in the post. But they are a little slow in reacting and good passing can get an open shot.
UConn will probably use all ten fouls in the post guarding Crooks and she could make a living at the foul line in this game. Doubling down low will help but Crooks is so strong it might not matter. However, the Huskies have huge advantages at Guard and they will have to shoot well when open in this game. And they will have to run, run, run.
Final Prediction
Iowa State's last game against Eastern Illinois pretty much shows what they have done all year. Their two bigs, Crooks and Brown scored 30 points and 20 points respectively. And no other player had double digits. Brown is a real threat from deep. UConn will have their hands full with those two players. But the Cyclones will have their hands full in defending the Huskies.
UConn has too much quickness for Iowa State to handle. And the Huskies pressure defense will cause real problems for the ISU guards.
The big question for UConn is when will Fudd be back. It was on 12/10 that Geno said she will be out the rest of the week and then day to day. A week is 7 days, right? So that's 12/10, 12/11, 12/12, 12/13, 12/14, 12/15, and 12/16. That would be Monday. So is game day the first day of day to day? If so, she could see some time in this game. I hope she's back.!!!
If Iowa State can hit 40% or more of their threes it will be a competitive game. I'm thinking they won't and the Huskies win going away. Massey has it a 10 point spread. I'm going a little more.
UConn by 12+
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