Bueckers to Return Tonight vs. St. John’s
The Story: We have waited more than two months for this day, and it has finally arrived: Paige Bueckers has been cleared to make her return tonight when the women’s basketball team plays St. John’s at the XL Center (7 p.m., SNY).
THE LONG ROAD BACK: Bueckers tore the lateral meniscus in her left knee and broke the tibial plateau just below the knee in the Huskies’ win against Notre Dame on Dec. 5. She underwent surgery on Dec. 13 and was expected to miss roughly two months.
• Geno Auriemma said Wednesday, after UConn beat Marquette, that Bueckers was due for a checkup with doctors yesterday afternoon. She warmed up before the game and was in uniform, but did not play.
• UConn released a rather slick video announcing her return, which seems to be a bit out of character for the school but is certainly something that will help generate a bit of buzz surrounding the best player in the country.
WHAT CAN WE EXPECT? It seems unlikely that Bueckers will play a big role — or, at least, she shouldn’t — as she gets acclimated to the speed of the game.
• St. John’s (11-16, 7-10) isn’t particularly good, and there’s no reason she should play more than 20 minutes against a team that lost to Charlotte and Brown and was defeated at home by Creighton by 48 points last week.
• The Huskies have a quick turnaround and will face Providence at Gampel Pavilion on Sunday in their final game of the regular season. It would make sense for Bueckers to play even fewer minutes in that game as that will give her time to rest before the Big East tournament starts a week from today.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR THE HUSKIES? Geno will have to figure out the best way to build the rotation, which is a good problem to have.
• Bueckers should replace Nika Muhl as the starting point guard, meaning she’ll shift to the bench. Christyn Williams and Olivia Nelson-Ododa aren’t going to play off the bench, so that leaves two starting spots open.
• Freshmen Caroline Ducharme and Azzi Fudd emerged as scoring threats while Bueckers was out, but can the Huskies afford to play both of them and go with, essentially, a four-guard starting lineup? That seems unlikely. Evina Westbrook was originally pulled from the starting lineup to provide more scoring off the bench, so having Ducharme or Fudd join her and Muhl would make sense.
• Aliyah Edwards began the season as a starter in the frontcourt, but Dorka Juhasz has replaced her in recent weeks and been much more consistent. One of the two figures to continue starting, with the other providing the Huskies with a reliable option in case of foul trouble.
• Our best guess? Bueckers, Fudd, Williams, Juhasz and Nelson-Ododa will start, with Muhl, Westbrook, Ducharme and Edwards playing minutes off the bench. Now, are there enough minutes to go around? It seems unlikely, especially because Geno has never shown a desire to go nine players deep, but if the Huskies can figure it out, that depth will be an asset going into the NCAA Tournament.
Time for a Breather — or Trap Game?
The Story: The men’s basketball team is riding high after its win over Villanova on Tuesday. Can the Huskies follow that up with a win at lowly Georgetown on Sunday? (Noon, CBS)
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Dan Hurley has his first 20-win season at UConn, the Huskies are headed back to the NCAA Tournament and they are going to be one of the threats to win the Big East tournament. They are coming off four straight season-defining wins, including the court-storming win over No. 8 Villanova. The Huskies have a date with fourth-place Creighton on Tuesday. Can the Hoyas, who a 0-15 in the Big East, upset UConn? The game should not be close, but stranger things happen on the road in the Big East.
LOWLY HOYAS? Yes. We went there. Things have collapsed for Georgetown coach Patrick Ewing as last year’s memorable run to the NCAA Tournament, which it pulled off by winning the Big East tournament, was followed by a mass exodus of players and talent. The Hoyas are 6-20 and the 188th-ranked team in the country, and they lost 68-65 to DePaul last night. Will Ewing return? Well, he apparently secretly signed a contract extension after last season. We are big fans of the basketball great but a program of Georgetown’s stature should not struggle this much.
COOL COLE: R.J. Cole isn’t UConn’s best player. That would be Adama Sanogo. But is any player more important to his team than Cole is to the Huskies? Cole is the point guard and is the only player on the team who can break down the opponent when things go wrong. Maybe it is the playground game Cole developed as a kid, but when things get tough, the Huskies put the ball in Cole’s hand. He did so on Tuesday with the wrong-foot/off-hand layup to win it for the Huskies.
• Cole, who has scored more than 2,000 points in college, has another year of eligibility left if he chooses to take it. He’s averaging 16 points per game and shooting 41%. He is an indispensable member of the Huskies.
WHAT DID DAN HURLEY SAY? “He’s a very, very cool guy. He’s a very fun, kind of funny, and he’s just the definition of a cool guy. He’s got a style about him. I think it helps him be very relatable and develop a friendship with everybody he plays with, which is part of leadership as a point guard or as a quarterback.”
FINAL HOME GAME SET: The Huskies will play DePaul in the final home game of the season at 5 p.m. on March 5 at Gampel Pavilion.
Morning Reads
• It’s shaping up to be a crucial weekend for the No. 19-ranked men’s hockey team, which begins a home-and-home weekend series with No. 15 Northeastern tonight in Boston. (UConnHuskies.com)
• The baseball team will be back in action this weekend with a three-game series at North Florida that begins this afternoon. (UConnHuskies.com)
• The softball team faces a beautiful weekend in Charleston, S.C., where it will play games against the College of Charleston, Western Carolina and Appalachian State. (UConnHuskies.com)
• Sydney Watson scored six goals and Grace Coon and Kyra Place each had three as the women’s lacrosse team used an eight-goal third quarter to beat UMass Lowell 23-14 yesterday afternoon. (UConnHuskies.com)
• The football team’s annual Blue-White Scrimmage, which ends the 15 spring practices, will be held at Morrone Stadium on April 23. It’s a brilliant idea in the steps to get more buzz around the program in Jim Mora‘s first season. (Hartford Courant)
