‘Disheveled’ Huskies Embarrassed vs. GT

No Bueckers, No Buckets in Loss to GT

The Story: The shorthanded women’s basketball team put forth an embarrassing effort last night when it lost 57-44 at Georgia Tech, marking the first time it has lost to an unranked team since Feb. 18, 2012 — a span of 240 games.

NO BARK, LET ALONE BITE: It’s often hard to criticize the Huskies given what they have accomplished over the past 30 years, and especially so given they were missing their heart and soul, Paige Bueckers, and three other key players because of injuries. But what happened last night was an abomination.

• The Huskies, who were second in Division I entering the game with a 50.7 shooting percentage, were held to 31 percent shooting, even though they did face statistically one of the best defenses in the country. They trailed fairly consistently and scored just five points in the fourth quarter, though they scored four of them in the final 1:21.

• Christyn Williams had a team-high 13 points but went 6-for-19, including 1-for-8 from 3-point range. Olivia Nelson-Ododa had 12 points and 10 rebounds in her homecoming, and Evina Westbrook had 11 points and six assists before fouling out. Freshman Amari DeBerry, whose eight minutes were her first of the season, scored four points, and Caroline Ducharme and Dorka Juhasz each scored two points. That’s it.

• It’s no wonder the Huskies scored their sixth-fewest points in a game under Geno Auriemma. The last time they scored fewer than 45 points was in February 2006, when Rutgers held them to 42.

MISSING BUECKERS: The absence of UConn’s do-everything point guard was apparent from the start. Without Bueckers, who is supposed to miss upwards of two months with a broken left leg, the Huskies had no idea who to turn to for scoring, cohesion, disruption and, dare we say it, heart.

• With Bueckers out, Williams needs to be the Huskies’ dominant scorer. She has proven in (albeit brief) flashes during her career that she can do so, but if there’s a time to demand the ball and make things happen, it’s now. She can score at all three levels but the consistency, from game-to-game and even within games, is lacking. If she won’t be assertive, nobody else on the Huskies will be.

• Nelson-Ododa can be a frustrating player to watch. At 6-foot-5, she has the length and agility to make an impact inside, but she’d rather sit in the midrange (or, last night, with her foot on the 3-point line) and launch long jumpers. We’ve come to accept over four years that she’s much more comfortable playing that way, and against Georgia Tech’s big frontcourt, including Nerea Hermosa and Lorela Cubaj, it was clear she wasn’t going to want to battle inside. Yet when she drove to the hoop, she was successful. It’s maddening to try to reconcile.

• Westbrook had a quiet game and never seemed comfortable running the offense. She’ll have to get back to doing so quickly. She assisted on one-third of UConn’s 18 baskets, but the Huskies want to push the pace and play in transition, not run a half-court offense. They’re not going to do so without Bueckers, so Westbrook’s challenge is changing the style of play as a fill-in. That is not easy.

• There was a game during the 2018-19 season against USF in which Geno pulled his starters off the court because they were struggling and put five bench players in. Last night seemed like a prime opportunity to do so, but it’s clear the reserves weren’t up for the challenge, either. Ducharme, who played well in the last game against Notre Dame, played 29 minutes off the bench and went just 1-for-5, though she did grab five rebounds. Mir McLean played just two minutes, both in the fourth quarter, and had no impact. Only DeBerry, who had not played before last night, showed any flash of brilliance. She had three rebounds and knocked down a pair of free throws and made a case for more playing time.

• “I don’t think it’s gonna get fixed. I really don’t,” Geno said. “I’ve been doing this a long, long time. Coaches are supposed to be optimistic. I’m too old to be an optimist. I’m a realist. I truly believe what I see. I don’t try to make up what I’m seeing and pretend it’s something else. I know what I see. And what I see is a team that’s somewhat disheveled. And that’s all me. Somehow, someway, I do not have the ability at this point in time to affect my players to make sure that we’re in a better place mentally and physically and play the kind of basketball we need to play.”

IDENTITY CHECK: For as poorly as UConn played, the score was tied at 39 after three quarters. Georgia Tech then went on a 12-1 run that put a positive outcome out of reach.

• The Huskies started fouling Georgia Tech, a poor free-throw shooting team, with two and a half minutes left. But that strategy was only going to work if the Huskies made shots, and instead of countering missed free throws with points, they chose to jack up half-hearted, off-balance 3s.

• We find it cheesy to talk about a team’s identity no matter the sport, but the Huskies need to define what exactly it is they’re trying to do — and that’s even with Bueckers. They’re turning the ball over at an obscene rate this season and they have no idea what to do when they’re not forcing turnovers and running on the fastbreak.

• Why is it so hard for the Huskies to grab offensive rebounds? They have a trio of rotation players who are 6-foot-3 or taller in Nelson-Ododa, Aaliyah Edwards and Juhasz, who started last night, yet they rank 302nd out of 356 Division I teams with 9.1 offensive rebounds a game. If they can’t grab boards on the offensive end, they’re missing out on second-chance opportunities — and they’re going to need every scoring chance they can get.

• Speaking of which, what has happened to Edwards? She was an unstoppable force as a freshman, particularly in the NCAA Tournament, when she averaged 13 points and 7.5 rebounds on 73 percent shooting. This year, she’s averaging 6.4 points and 3.4 rebounds in 22.7 minutes a game. She notably missed a wide-open layup in transition in the third quarter last night and needs to find a way to get right.

UP NEXT: The season carries on, and the Huskies (5-2) won’t have much of a runway for a turnaround. They’ll head to New Jersey today and prepare for a game against UCLA (5-2), which was receiving votes in the AP poll, tomorrow at 1 p.m. in Newark. Somehow, after all the progress we’ve made over the years, it will be the first women’s college basketball game broadcast on ABC.

Calling All Offense: Huskies Need Help

The Story: Dan Hurley knows what the men’s basketball team needs on offense. He’s just not sure if anyone can bring it after the Huskies struggled to 53 points in a loss at West Virginia on Wednesday, so we’ll see if they can turn it around tomorrow against St. Bonaventure (3:30 p.m., ESPN2).

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: UConn’s offense is a problem. With Adama Sanogo and the aggressive Tyrese Martin out of the lineup with injures, the Huskies have fewer options and lack a go-to scorer. R.J. Cole is the only scoring threat and he is also the only full-time ballhandler, passer and creator. That’s not going to get it done for the Huskies, who need better play out of the rest of their players, especially freshman Jordan Hawkins, who has struggled against the better teams the Huskies have faced.

WHAT DID HURLEY SAY? “I’ll remind Jordan that [James] Bouknight, his first couple of high-major games, road or neutral, weren’t a walk in the park.”

HAWKINS’ TIME: Hawkins and Tyler Polley are the Huskies’ two best shooters, though an argument could be made for Cole as well. On Wednesday, the pair shot a combined 1-for-13, with Hawkins going 0-for-7.

• Hawkins, who has been starting with Martin on the shelf, has shown tremendous shooting and scoring ability but has not quite put it all together. He’s averaging 7.5 points per game on 40 percent shooting, including 38 percent from 3. He has scored more than 10 points three times, but in the other five games, he scored no more than five points.

• Polley is a frustrating, streaky shooter. He can explode, as he did for 24 points against Auburn, and shoot the Huskies to a win. He also goes cold. He is scoring nine points per game on 36 percent shooting and only 30 percent from 3-point range.

• The only other candidates for wing scoring are Jalen Gaffney and Andre Jackson. Gaffney is shooting 41 percent while Jackson is a non-scorer. He is averaging 6.6 points and 7.3 rebounds per game but scores most of his points in transition and isn’t a primary option.

ST. BONAVENTURE ON TAP: Things don’t get any easier for the Huskies (8-2), who play in the Never Forget Classic in Newark, N.J., against St. Bonaventure (8-1).

• The Bonnies are led by Jaren Holmes and Kyle Lofton, who are scoring 17.9 points and 17.4 points per game, respectively.

• They have already beaten Clemson and Marquette after they reached the NCAA Tournament a season ago and are the favorites to win the Atlantic 10, always an incredibly tough conference.

Morning Reads

• The Huskies’ tradition of reaching the Final Four lives on as the volleyball team will face Valparaiso in the semifinals of the NIVC tonight at 8 p.m. on ESPN+. If UConn wins, it will face UNLV or UTEP with the championship on the line. (UConnHuskies.com)

• Tage Thompson, who has had an up-and-down career after leaving UConn, will get an opportunity to continue his breakout season with the Sabres and seize a larger role. (Buffalo News)

• Former UConn guard Lexi Gordon, who’s now at Duke, has signed one of the more eye-opening NIL deals of any athlete. She reached an endorsement deal with WWE, which identified 15 college athletes to sponsor across all sports. (Duke Chronicle)