▶️ The UConn Daily: Listen To Our Recap
Time to Make Room for More Titles
The Story: The women’s basketball team steamrolled Marquette 71-51 yesterday afternoon and will try to win its 27th conference tournament title, and its ninth in a row, tonight at Mohegan Sun against Villanova.
NOT A CHALLENGE: The Huskies were tested the first time out against the Golden Eagles, but the last two games were a romp. Evina Westbrook scored 14 points and Christyn Williams and Dorka Juhasz each scored 13 as they coasted to an easy win.
• UConn’s lead hit 30 points late in the third quarter, and remember, Marquette was considered to be a bubble team before yesterday’s game.
• The Huskies shot 50 percent, had 17 assists on their 29 field goals and owned the boards 41-33 in a game in which they never trailed.
• Paige Bueckers got just two points, two rebounds and two assists in 18 minutes, and she was held to a 20-minute limit. It’ll be interesting to see if she plays additional minutes against Villanova.
WHAT DID GENO SAY? “Three weeks ago, we might have lost this game if we can’t get those points. But there’s this feeling now that we know we’re going to get them; we just don’t know from where.”
WILDCATS IN THE WAY: Villanova, the No. 2 seed, defeated St. John’s in the first round and Seton Hall yesterday before advancing to the Big East final for the fourth time and the first since 2003.
• We’d love to dismiss the threat the Wildcats present, just as we have with any other opponent in the conference, but there’s a score to settle. Villanova beat UConn 72-69 at XL Center on Feb. 9, ending the Huskies’ nine-year conference win streak.
• What’s noteworthy about that game? The Huskies played just six players, with Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Caroline Ducharme out with illnesses and Bueckers not yet back from her injuries. UConn will be vastly different this time out.
Sanogo, Cole Named First-Team All-Big East
The Story: The men’s basketball team clinched the No. 3 seed in the Big East tournament on Saturday in a win over DePaul and had two players, Adama Sanogo and R.J. Cole, named first-team all-Big East yesterday.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Sanogo, who was named as a finalist for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award as the nation’s top center, never has two poor games in a row. Against DePaul, the center had 26 points — 20 in the first half — and 15 rebounds. It’s that type of monster play that makes Sanogo one of the best players in the Big East and one of the top centers in the nation.
• The win on Saturday, combined with Creighton’s road loss to Seton Hall, has the Huskies as the No. 3 seed in the Big East tournament this week. UConn will take on the winner of Wednesday’s game between No. 6 Seton Hall and No. 11 Georgetown in the evening session on Thursday at Madison Square Garden, with an expected tipoff at about 9:30 p.m.
• The Huskies are on the same side of the bracket as No. 2 seed Villanova, making for a potentially terrific semifinal match on Friday night if the Huskies and Wildcats can win their quarterfinal matchups.
COLE, SANOGO HONORED: We told y’all at the beginning of the year that UConn not having a single player on any of the preseason lists was ridiculous. Sanogo is the most dominant player in the conference and is averaging 15.3 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. Villanova’s Collin Gillespie is probably going to be the Big East Player of the Year as recognition for lifetime achievement, but we don’t think there is a better player in the conference than Sanogo.
• Sanogo’s throwback abilities in the post require opponents to adjust their defense and style. That opens things up for the Huskies’ offense and allow it to score inside and out.
• Cole is UConn’s most indispensable player. He is leading the team with 33.2 minutes and 15.8 points per game. We’ve seen how UConn plays when Cole isn’t on the floor and it isn’t something we want to contemplate in the next two to three weeks. Cole has to play and may need to go 36 or more minutes in one-and-done scenarios.
• Freshman Jordan Hawkins was named to the All-Big East freshman team. We aren’t going to make too much of that as he is averaging only 5.8 points per game and shooting 35.3%. He has a long way to go as a player.
MARTIN SNUBBED: Not every UConn player can make the Big East all-conference teams, but not having Tyrese Martin on the second team or as an honorable mention is a scandal. Martin is averaging 13.4 points and 7.6 rebounds a game and is shooting 43.9% from 3-point range. There is no player like that in the Big East and he is the only guard in the conference that we know of who can put up 19 points and 16 rebounds as he did against DePaul on Saturday. That’s a snub, an oversight and an outright injustice.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: You want to know the Huskies’ bread and butter? Points inside. Sanogo, of course, led the way, but the Huskies scored 48 points in the paint in the win over the Blue Demons. The Huskies also hammered the offensive glass and scored 19 second-chance points. We do want one more thing — a faster pace. The Huskies scored only eight points off turnovers and had only six fastbreak points. The Huskies need to run and use their athleticism in the open floor.
NEXT UP: We are fired up for Thursday night at MSG against either Seton Hall or Georgetown. UConn split with Seton Hall and swept hapless Georgetown this year.
Morning Reads
• The baseball team is red-hot at the start of the season and capped off a three-game sweep of poor FIU yesterday with a 15-0 win. The baseball team is 8-1 and has won seven in a row. It outscored FIU 28-3 over the three-game set. Enzo Stefanoni picked up his second win of the season by going seven innings and striking out 10. (UConnHuskies.com)
• After blanking Vermont on Saturday on senior day, the men’s hockey team is slated to host Boston University in a Hockey East quarterfinal on Saturday at the XL Center. This is gonna be a big game, and how about heading to the XL Center on Saturday then coming home to watch UConn men in the Big East tournament championship game (🤞) on Saturday night? (The UConn Blog)
• We don’t do much track here at the Daily, but UConn is the home of champions and the men’s and women’s track team won the IC4A Championship (men) and the ECAC title (women) this weekend. (women) (men)
• The women’s hockey team lost 3-1 to Northeastern in the Hockey East final on Saturday. (UConnHuskies.com)
