Fudd Shines Again After Dailey’s Scare
The Story: The No. 5-ranked women’s basketball game recovered after Chris Dailey appeared to faint shortly before the game began and fought off a challenge from No. 10 N.C. State to easily win 91-69 yesterday at the XL Center.
WHAT HAPPENED? Dailey collapsed at the end of the national anthem and was taken off the court on a stretcher. She was taken to a local hospital, and Geno Auriemma said after the game that “there’s nothing serious, nothing threatening” about Dailey’s condition.
• The incident left those on both sides shaken — including many in the crowd — and officials responded by putting another 10 minutes on the clock for additional warmups once Dailey left the arena floor. That led to a delayed start to the game, which meant it only lengthened N.C. State’s whoopin’.
FUDD DOES IT AGAIN: Sophomore Azzi Fudd came through with another brilliant performance as she went 12-for-24, including 6-for-14 from 3-point range, to score a career-high 32 points for the second consecutive game.
• Fudd had 22 points at halftime and was again clinical and methodical with her shot-making. N.C. State is a quality team and it had no answers for Fudd, who played all 40 minutes.
• It was UConn’s second victory over a top-10 opponent in less than a week after it beat No. 3 Texas on Monday, and combined with the overtime loss to No. 2 Stanford to No. 1 South Carolina yesterday afternoon, it means there’s a good chance the Huskies move up to No. 2 in the rankings this afternoon.
MUHL SETS RECORD: Junior Nika Muhl set a school record with 15 assists, which is incredible to think about given all the great point guards — Jennifer Rizzotti, Sue Bird, Renee Montgomery, Paige Bueckers — the Huskies have had. Bueckers set the record with 14 assists in a game against Butler two seasons ago.
• Muhl finished with three points on 1-for-3 shooting and had six rebounds.
JUHASZ OUT: The Huskies were without redshirt senior Dorka Juhasz, who recently broke her left thumb in practice and should miss a few games. With Juhasz out, Geno moved redshirt junior Aubrey Griffin into the starting lineup, and she responded with another high-activity performance of 16 points, a career-high six steals and six rebounds.
• Only Fudd, Griffin and junior Aaliyah Edwards, who finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds, scored in the first half. But redshirt senior Lou Lopez Senechal scored all 20 points in the second half for the Huskies, who shot 50 percent and never trailed.
WHAT DID GENO SAY? “If we’re going to compete like that, like we did these two games, if we’re going to play with that kind of energy and that kind of purpose, then I think that was a great test for us, that these two games kind of showed us what we can be. And when we start going on all cylinders, there’s some something else there. … Whatever that is, I don’t know.”
UP NEXT: UConn (3-0) gets a slight breather before heading to Oregon for the Phil Knight Legacy tournament and games against Duke on Friday and either No. 4 Iowa or Oregon State on Sunday.
Preseason Over for the Men
The Story: The No. 25-ranked men’s basketball team completed the first part of its schedule with a 95-60 obliteration of Delaware State at the XL Center yesterday.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: UConn is 5-0 and, as expected, none of the games were close. That’s how Dan Hurley drew it up and yesterday’s game was no different. Adama Sanogo scored 26 points and Jordan Hawkins, in his second game back from a concussion, added 11 points and nine rebounds.
• Andre Jackson is a work in progress as he recovers from a broken pinkie. He scored three points and had four assists before fouling out in 13 minutes off the bench.
• Freshman Donovan Clingan had his best game as he had 16 points, five rebounds and three blocks. The Huskies hammered Delaware State with 44 points in the paint.
SHOOTING COMES AROUND: The Huskies have shooters. Hurley went into the transfer portal and found wing shooting and scoring in spades. That hasn’t been seen for most of the early part of the season, but the 3-pointer was effective against Delaware State as the Huskies hit 12 of 28.
• It wasn’t just the number of 3s the Huskies hit. It is the number of players who can make them. The Huskies got them from Hawkins, Sanogo, Jackson, Tristen Newton, Nahiem Alleyne, Alex Karaban and Joey Calcaterra. If Hurley wants, he can put five players on the floor who can shoot better than 35 percent from 3-point range.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: The Huskies scored 24 points off turnovers and scored on 58.3 percent of their possessions. That works out to a staggering 1.319 points per possession, which is excellent efficiency. UConn has 33 points off the bench as Clingan and Calcaterra, who had 11 points, led the effort.
PK85 NEXT: The Huskies will move up in the rankings this afternoon ahead of their first game in the PK85 Classic against Oregon on Thursday. It will be the first big test for the Huskies, who are still rounding into form.
• Newton appeared to injure a groin in garbage time and we’ll watch the severity of that throughout the week. Jackson is still getting back into action and has only five points in two games, though he remains an energizer bunny on the court.
Letdown, but Likely Bowl Bound
The Story: The football’s team quest for a winning season will have to wait for a bowl game or even another year as a slew of mistakes and penalties helped doom the Huskies in a 34-17 loss at Army on Saturday afternoon.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: UConn’s goal of finishing above .500 for the first time in more than a decade went on the wayside as the Huskies had a punt blocked and returned for a touchdown, failed to convert a touchdown twice when at the 1-yard line and committed two turnovers in the passing game.
• UConn put up 254 yards rushing and averaged 6.9 yards per carry. It was led by a stellar performance from freshman Victor Rosa, who had 111 yards and a touchdown.
GIVEAWAYS DOOM HUSKIES: UConn outgained Army, 370 yards to 320 yards, but the Huskies’ miscues were costly:
• A blocked punt returned for a touchdown on the opening drive.
• A first-and-goal at the 1 that was botched due to offensive line penalties; the Huskies ended up settling for a field goal.
• A second first-and-goal at the 1 that was stopped cold four times for zero points
• Two interceptions by freshman quarterback Zion Turner that helped Army seal the game.
• Eleven penalties for 78 yards, including eight before the snap.
WHAT’S NEXT? UConn is going to have to wait two weeks to find out its fate. It ends the regular season a week earlier than the rest of the nation, which means Jim Mora can build on this season on the recruiting trail. But the Huskies are likely to get a bowl. We just don’t know where it will be. Here are some projections:
• 247Sports thinks UConn will be in the Quick Lane Bowl vs. Central Michigan;
• Pro Football Network projects the Independence Bowl vs. East Carolina;
• CBS Sports thinks it will be the LendingTree Bowl vs. Georgia Southern;
• ESPN is split, thinking it will also be the LendingTree Bowl vs. Southern Miss or the New Mexico Bowl vs. San Diego State.
WHAT DID MORA SAY? “We made a goal, internally as a team, that we wanted to get these seniors to a bowl game, and it was a distant goal. Obviously, there’s a lot of things we had to do to get there, but it was one that I think everyone kind of kept in the back of their mind. It wasn’t something we focused on every week. As a matter of fact, we rarely talked about it at all.”
OUR TAKE: It was an absolutely stellar season for the Huskies, considering the trainwreck the program has been for the last five seasons. UConn has had more positive national publicity this season than it did the previous 10 years combined, and the program is something we can’t wait until next year.
• Where are the Huskies going? We don’t know. Independence is fun, but it doesn’t seem to be a long-term solution. For the immediate future and rest of the decade, we like the status quo. Now, Mora has a good story to tell on the recruiting trail and to players in the transfer portal, and the Huskies aren’t done just yet. They can practice and will have a game in the coming weeks.
Morning Reads
• Although the No. 7-ranked men’s hockey team lost at No. 13 UMass Lowell on Friday, Ryan Tverberg had a goal and an assist to help the Huskies salvage the weekend with a 4-2 home win on Saturday. (UConnHuskies.com)
• The No. 12-ranked women’s hockey team dropped both ends of a home-and-home series against Boston University over the weekend with a 2-1 home loss Friday followed by a 5-2 road loss Saturday. (UConnHuskies.com)
Top photo: Azzi Fudd put on a clinic again yesterday by scoring 32 points against N.C. State, just like she did against Texas. (Ian Bethune for The UConn Daily)
