Now or Never with No. 13 Xavier Incoming
The Story: The No. 19-ranked men’s basketball team can jump-start the second half of its Big East schedule when it hosts conference-leading Xavier tonight at Gampel Pavilion (6:30 p.m., FS1).
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The Huskies’ (16-5, 5-5 Big East) loss at Xavier on Dec. 31 was their first of the season and it started a stretch in which they lost five of six games, with four of those on the road.
• The Musketeers (16-4, 8-1 Big East) are four games ahead of the Huskies at the halfway point.
• UConn’s defensive struggles began at Xavier as the Huskies gave up 88 points. They have given up 80 points in three of their five losses.
• Xavier leads the conference with 85.2 points per game but is 11th in points allowed at more than 78 per game.
PERMISSION TO MAKE PLAYS: On paper, UConn has a lot of answers. It has plenty of guards who can do things, versatile and athletic big men and a ton of athleticism. What is missing is the ability to make plays when the offense breaks down.
• Dan Hurley has asked his players to be more creative and less robotic with their play. It’s rare for a college coach to call for his players to freelance more, but Hurley said yesterday that he wants them to make plays, not just run an offense.
WHAT DID HURLEY SAY? “I think we need our guys playing a little bit more off script. I think the mistake I made was not giving them a little bit more freedom a little bit sooner when people really started getting into us and started blowing up our actions.”
CASTLE AN ALL-AMERICAN: UConn’s top recruit, Stephon Castle, was selected to the McDonald’s All-America game, the Huskies’ first recruit to make the game since Alterique Gilbert in 2016.
• Castle, a 6-foot-6 guard from Georgia, is rated the No. 15 prospect in the nation, per ESPN, with some services having him as a top-10 recruit.
• UConn’s Fab Five recruiting class of Castle, Solomon Ball, Jaylin Stewart, Jayden Rossand Youssouf Singare is ranked No. 4 by 247Sports.
ABOUT XAVIER: Colby Jones (14.2 points per game) and Souley Boum (16.3) spearhead a prolific attack. The Huskies supposedly lucked out in the first meeting with center Jack Nunge (14.5) limited due to illness, but Zach Freemantle (15.4) did a number on UConn’s defense, specifically freshman forward Alex Karaban.
• Dribble penetration and, perhaps, even slowing the game down and using their size could be to the Huskies’ advantage.
Injuries Haven’t Derailed Huskies
The Story: Oh, what could have been. That’s what Geno Auriemma has often thought when he’s looked at the women’s basketball team’s bench and he’s left with as few as seven available players in a season that has been one continuous battle of attrition.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: During Monday’s postgame press conference after the No. 5 Huskies pounded DePaul, Geno talked about the “grandiose ideas” he had for the team back in the summer when it appeared he might have arguably the deepest and most diversely talented roster in the nation.
• Of course, a host of injuries ensured those ideas would never came to fruition. In fact, it’s no indictment on the active players to say those not in uniform on the bench, if healthy, would likely beat the current starting lineup.
• On Monday, the inactives included a former National Player of the Year (Paige Bueckers), the leading scorer and best shooter (Azzi Fudd), the top incoming freshman (Ice Brady), a superb sophomore (Caroline Ducharme) and a new recruit from Egypt with ample international experience (Jana El Alfy).
THE PAIGE-AZZI NUMBERS: To underscore what the Huskies have missed this season, look at the playing time of UConn’s back-to-back No. 1 recruits, Bueckers and Fudd, during their brief stints in Storrs:
- Fudd has played in 34 of a possible 55 games (61.8 percent)
- Bueckers has played in 46 of a possible 85 games (54.1 percent)
Combined, they have played in 80 of a possible 140 games (57.1). Fudd and Bueckers have been teammates for a total of 55 games, but they have only played together in 13 (23.6 percent). UConn’s record in those 13 games is 11-2, with both losses coming against South Carolina last season.
DON’T FORGET BRADY: Of course, Brady (the top recruit of the ’23 class) has yet to play a game at UConn. If you add her to the mix, that means UConn’s top three recruits over three years have combined to play in 80 of a possible 160 games (50 percent). And, of course, the three have never played together.
EDWARDS, LOPEZ SENECHAL STEP UP: With a bench full of injured players, how have the Huskies continued to not only win, but play at such a high level? In particular, Geno pointed to the leadership and maturity of Aaliyah Edwards and Lou Lopez Senechal, the only two players who have yet to miss a game and who “haven’t had a bad game since Game 1.”
• Has there ever been a timelier addition than Lopez Senechal? The graduate transfer has made a surprisingly seamless transition from being the MAAC Player of the Year at Fairfield to playing a starring role at a Division I powerhouse like UConn.
• Without Bueckers and Fudd, Lopez Senechal has capably helped to fill the scoring void. She has averaged 16.9 points per game — second to only Edwards among those with 10 or more games — and has made 3-point shots at an astounding 49 percent clip.
WHAT GENO HAD TO SAY: “It certainly is a different team than what we had envisioned We had all these grandiose ideas in June of what we could do and what lineups we could put out there. … And then all of a sudden, you’re left with very few choices. And people have to respond to every single game without any safety net.”
ARNOLD, SHADE ARE ALL-AMERICANS: Kamorea “KK” Arnold and Ashlynn Shade, two 2023 recruits, were named McDonald’s All-Americans yesterday. The McDonald’s All-American game, which features the nation’s top 24 players, takes place on March 28 at the Toyota Center in Houston.
• According to the HoopGurlz rankings, Arnold and Shade are the No. 6 and No. 15 recruits, respectively. Arnold is a 5-foot-9 point guard from Germantown, Wis.and Shade is a 5-9 guard from Noblesville, Ind.
• Joining them in the Class of 2023 are El Alfy, a 6-4 forward from Egypt who’s already enrolled at UConnand Qadence Samuels, a 6-2 forward from Forestville, Md., who is ranked 41st.
UP NEXT: The Huskies travel to Knoxville, Tenn., to play longtime rival Tennessee tomorrow (8 p.m., ESPN).
Top photo: Andre Jackson dribbles the ball against Georgetown. (Ian Bethune for The UConn Daily)
