UConn Huskies vs Michigan Wolverines
AP #1 AP # 6
Coaches Poll #1 Coaches Poll #9
4-0 4-0
Friday, November 21th, 8:00 PM
Mohegan Sun Arena
Uncasville, Ct.
TV - Fox
UConn and Michigan are meeting for the first time in their history
Michigan Overview
Michigan has had a great start to their season before meeting the Huskies.
They are 4-0 beating Canisus 100-40, Harvard 84-55, Binghampton xx-xx and in their signature game of the season so far a 93-54 drubbing of at the time No. 18 Notre Dame. That win moved the Wolverines from No. 14 to No. 6. I'm not sure that big a jump is warrented against an overrated Notre Dame team.
One thing to take into consideration is the opponents that Michigan has played. Canisus is rated 356 by Massey, Harvard a respectible 84 by Massey and Binghampton 288 by Massey. Credit where credit is due, Notre Dame is rated 16 by Massey.
Comparative Team Statistics
(leader in bold)
UConn Michigan
90.8 PPG 99.3
58.0 Defensive PPG 49.8
32.8 Scoring Margin 49.5
52.2 Field Goal % 55.8
36.1 Defensive FG% 32.7
33.3 Three Point % 40.5
32.4 Defensive 3PT% 20.7
86.8 Free Throw % 66.3
42.0 Rebounds/game 41.3
9.3 Rebounding Margin 13.5
23.5 Assists per game 20.3
12.3 Turnover per game 16.0
1.9 Assists/TO ratio 1.3
15.5 Steals per game 15.3
5.0 Blocks per game 3.5
UCONN
The player and coaches names for both teams
are clickable to see their Bios
are clickable to see their Bios
UConn Starters
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Michigan Wolverines
Michigan Starters
Michigan Bench
Game Analysis
"Based on what I've seen from Michigan they will be, for sure, the best team we play this year, by a long shot at this time in the season" - Geno
Wow Geno, some statement there. I'm sure the fans of Tennessee, USC and Iowa might differ. Then again, beating Notre Dame by 39 is an accomplishemt. While Notre Dame was listed as the home team on this neutral court, they played in Detroit Michigan. I am sure there were more Michigan fans there. None the less, the Wolverines kicked the Irish ass.
What makes Michigan a good team? Well, they play really well together on both offense and defense. They are just a really well coached team. We all know their head coach Kim Barnes Arico. She was at St. John's from 2002-03 thru 2011-12. She finished with a 176-134 record. But her big claim to fame was beating UConn and ending the NCAA record 99 game winning streak with a late three pointer to win 57-56.
Ok, I washed my mouth out to get rid of that bad taste. Back to the analysis.
Super sophomore Olivia Olson, a 6'1" guard is the top scorer on the team. After a terrific freshman season where she was CO-Big Ten FOY. She is averaging 17.8 PPG, 4 RPG and is shooting her three pointers at a 46.7% clip. She is also great at getting into the lane and getting fouled, with almost 6 trips to the foul line per game shooting at 80%. The clear team leader in every way.
Mila Holloway is the second leading scorer on the team at 14.3 PPG. The 5'10" sophomore guard set a freshman record for Michigan last year with 148 assists. She is leading the team with 6 APG and 3.5 steals per game.
6' sophomore guard Syla Swords is another double digit scorer at 12.3 PPG. She has taken the most three pointers on the team but so far is only shooting them at a 30.4 clip. She leads the team in rebounds at 5.3 per game. She has been chosen pre-season all Big-Ten for 2025-26.
Ashley Sofilkanich is the height in the starting lineup. The 6'3" junior forward transferred to Michigan from Bucknell. She dominated there winning Patriot League Player of the Year, All-Patriot League first team, Patriot League All-Defensive Team, Patriot League All-Academic Team. She averaged 19.7 points and 8.4 rebounds in 32.0 minutes per game last season. In her first two games at Michigan she is playing 14.9 MPG and 10.5 PPG. She is a remarkable 20-26 from the floor for 76%.
Who will be the fifth starter? So far they have had 3 different players in that slot. The latest is Kendall Dudley, who is still working herself back from an injury. She might start going forward. The 6'2" guard transfer from UCLA had a quiet freshman season for UCLA and is looking for more playing time at Michigan. She is getting it. In her 15 MPG she is averaging 5 PPG and 3.5 RPG.
I'm sure the other two players who have started will get minutes against the Huskies as well as a couple of other bench players.
Brook Quarles Daniels started one game. The 5'7" senior guard transferred in from Oakland two seasons ago. Last season she led the team in steals at 1.6 per game. This year she is averaging 21.5 MPG, 4.8 PPG and 4.8 RPG. She has the best Assist/Turnover ratio with 17 assists and only 5 turnovers.
Alyssa Crockett started two games for Michigan this season. The 6'2" senior forward is a four year player for Michigan and the player with the most experience on the team. In 13.5 MPG she is averaging 4.8 PPG and 1.5 RPG.
The most productive bench player for the Wolverines is Te'Yala Delfosse. The 6'3" sophomore guard/forward is the fifth double digit scorer. In 17.6 MPG she is averaging 10.3 PPG, 5.3 RPG (tied for the team lead) and is 4-6 on three pointers.
5'10" freshman guard McKenzie Matherin is a possibility for some minutes in this game. A tough spot for a freshman so come into. She is averaging 7 PPG in her 17.2 MPG. Her issue is that she has only 5 assists and 11 turnovers.
Michigan plays a solid man-to-man switching defense. They are not particulalry quick but they do a great job playing off each other. They use full court pressure defense and it was pretty effective against the weaker teams. They play in your face man-to-man once the ball crosses half court. They are turning over teams at a high rate with 29.8 per game. Yes, that is the real number. I'm pretty sure its a reflectionon their schedule.
Offensively they look to run off defensive rebounds. They force around 29.8 turnovers per game and around half of those are on steals, leading to fast breaks. They also like to take three pointers off of fast breaks. They average 20 three point shots taken per game and hit them at a solid 35% rate. One weakness is free throw shooting as they hit only 67% of those.
Once in the half court they are constantly looking for driving lanes and once past the first line of defense, they look to dish to open players in the paint. It's been pretty effective. They also will kick out from the paint for open threes. They appear to have an offensive plan unlike so many other teams UConn faces.
Final Prediction
So, how will this game play out? It's a tough one to get a handle on. Three Michigan games were against weaker teams with Harvard being the best. And the Wolverines blew them out. It's what a 6th (now) ranked team should do. The question is if Notre Dame is that bad or is Michigan that good in the Irish embarrassing loss. Probably a combination of both.
This game will be more about talent a UConn has an advantage all over the court. No one matches up with Fudd and Strong, i'm not sure Michigane can handle Williams and the Huskies advantage up and down the linep is obvious.
If Michigan can hold their own in turnovers, hit a high percentage of threes and hold the Huskies down somewhat, they have a shot to keep it close. I'm sure UConn has other ideas and with a week to put together a game plan I'm sure Geno has a good plan.
Too much Fudd, Strong,Williams, Blanca. Too much great UConn defense.
UConn by 15+
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