It’s Now or Never for Huskies
The Story: No more talk. No more projections. It’s time for the No. 4 seed UConn men to see if they can live up to the hype starting with No. 13 seed Iona in Albany in the first round of the NCAA Tournament (4:30 p.m., TBS).
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: UConn’s been on a roller coaster ride this season. It rose as high as No. 2 in the Associated Press poll in December, when it looked like one of the most powerful teams. A stretch of four losses in five games in January nearly dropped the Huskies out of the polls. They head into the NCAA Tournament on an upswing and are coming off a close loss to Big East champion Marquette in the conference semifinals.
• Iona (27-7) is coached by old foe Rick Pitino and likes to press, play stingy defense and get up and down the floor. It was the MAAC regular-season and tournament champions as Pitino, who is rumored to be atop the St. John’s wish list, indicated he wants to coach until he’s 80.
• UConn is entering its third straight NCAA Tournament under Dan Hurley. We have to state the obvious: The previous two appearances haven’t gone well.
• UConn struggled as a No. 7 seed in 2020, when it lost to No. 10 seed Maryland in the first round. It had an even more frustrating performance last year as the shooting vanished when it was a No. 5 seed and lost to No. 12 seed New Mexico State.
• Being a No. 4 seed proved to be little protection yesterday as Virginia lost 68-67 to No. 13 seed Furman on a 3-pointer in the final seconds.
WHAT DID HURLEY SAY? “I think, No. 1, we have the best team we’ve had. We’ve played to the quality of the top-10 team this year, overall body of work. Obviously, at the high end, we’ve probably played as well as anybody in the country. … The message with the group is just play to your identity, be who we have been the whole year. We don’t need an extraordinary performance. We don’t need a Kemba [Walker] moment from anyone. We’ve got a deep team. We’ve got a strong team. … Enjoy everything that comes along with this being invited to this exclusive tournament.”
HOW DOES UCONN AVOID THE UPSET? By scoring more points than its opponent. We’re being cheeky here, but points is the proper word. When underdogs win in the NCAA Tournament, their opponents’ point total is under 70 points. There is no hard and fast rule, but the better teams typically want to play faster and get more chances.
• The early victim in Day 1 of playing slow? No. 2 seed Arizona lost 59-55 to No. 15 seed Princeton 59-55. Hey, Jay Bilas, that’s what happens when you walk back on your word and decide UConn will actually lose to Arizona in the final.
ABOUT IONA: The Gaels play a hard-nosed defensive style — classic Pitino — and shoot a ton of 3-pointers. By virtue of that formula, this isn’t going to be a pushover for the Huskies. Walter Clayton Jr. leads the Gaels with 16.9 points per game.
— John Silver
Time for the Huskies To Show Who They Are
The Story: The No. 2 seed UConn women get their NCAA Tournament run underway on Saturday afternoon when they host No. 15 seed Vermont at Gampel Pavilion — the first step toward what could very well be a 12th national championship (3 p.m., ABC).
ANOTHER DEEP RUN: If you’re wondering whether the Huskies (29-5) have what it takes to win the national title, we’re about to provide you the answer you’re looking for: Yes, we firmly believe UConn is ready to cut down the nets in Dallas early next month.
• It has been a trying season for UConn, and it may have been the most difficult one Geno Auriemma has had since he was hired to coach the team prior to the 1985-86 season. The main culprit, of course, has been injuries, as Paige Bueckers and Ice Brady went down over the summer and were ruled out before the season even began.
• Only Aaliyah Edwards and Lou Lopez Senechal, the graduate transfer from Fairfield who came out of nowhere to excel for the Huskies this season, played in every game. That doesn’t mean they didn’t play hurt, though: Edwards has played the entire season while wearing a protective mask after breaking her nose in a preseason practice, and Lopez Senechal has battled a series of bumps and bruises that come from her physical play.
• Of course, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that Geno lost his mother, Marsiella, who died in December at 91. The moment hit at an especially tough time for the coach, who missed several games to grieve and get his mind ready for the stretch run.
WHY SO CONFIDENT? The Huskies are a No. 2 seed, but they were up for consideration for a No. 1 seed after they blew out all three of their opponents en route to the Big East title earlier this month.
• UConn lost an uncharacteristic five games, including two conference games for the first time in a decade, and often looked as though it was merely going through the motions as the clock ticked down to March.
• The Huskies enter the NCAA Tournament ranked eighth in Division I with an offensive rating of 113.2, according to Her Hoop Stats, and the second-best defensive rating at 75. They’re one of the best shooting teams in Division I at 49.1 percent, including a 36.2 3-point shooting percentage, and they crash the boards effectively with a 57.1 percent total rebounding rate.
FUDD FACTOR: The secret weapon, of course, is Azzi Fudd, who only played 12 games this season because of a recurring right knee injury. If Fudd is healthy — and we have no reason to believe she isn’t — she’s going to provide a challenge for opponents.
• Fudd is averaging 15.5 points per game on 49.3 percent shooting, including an elite 39.4 percent from 3-point range. When she’s on the court — and we figure that will be often throughout the tournament, given Geno’s inability to trust his bench — the offense will run through her.
• The Huskies didn’t necessarily run different sets with Fudd on the sidelines, but having her on the floor adds a different dimension to the offense because of her reliable deep shooting threat. That’s going to provide a challenge for opponents, especially because they have just five games of film to watch this season to see the Huskies at full strength.
• Fudd’s presence should boost the Huskies’ inside game, too, and we already saw that happen in the Big East tournament as Edwards was named its most outstanding player. Because opponents have to respect Fudd’s shooting, defenses can’t just collapse into the paint, giving Edwards and Dorka Juhasz additional opportunities inside. Opponents will have to adjust to Fudd’s presence on the fly.
• Although unbeaten South Carolina enters the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed, we firmly believe UConn will be able to give it a run for its money — though the teams wouldn’t meet again until the final. Why? Because of Fudd, who missed the Huskies’ 81-77 home loss on Feb. 5.
SIZING UP THE REGION: For the Huskies to reach the Final Four for the 15th consecutive season, they’ll have to knock off a few other highly regarded teams. We have complete confidence they’ll be able to do it.
• After facing Vermont, the America East champion, UConn would play No. 7 seed Baylor or No. 10 seed Alabama at home. Neither team is particularly threatening, and down the line lie No. 3 seed Ohio State, which is little more than two players, and No. 1 seed Virginia Tech, an inexperienced team based around its 6-foot-6 center, Elizabeth Kitley. The Huskies got a fortunate draw.
ABOUT VERMONT: The Catamounts (25-6) won the America East automatic bid by beating Albany 38-36 — yes, you read that right — in the America East final a week ago.
• Vermont is holding opponents to an exceptional 53 points per game and plays a ridiculously plodding offensive style that led to just 63.2 possessions per game, the second fewest in Division I.
• Emma Utterback, a 5-foot-8 senior point guard, is averaging team highs of 14 points and 4.2 assists per game. She’s one of three players to average double figures in scoring. Another, 6-foot-1 junior forward Anna Olson, is averaging 11.7 points and a team-high 6.7 rebounds per game.
— Zac Boyer
Top photo: Dan Hurley coaches the Huskies during a game against Marquette at the XL Center. (Ian Bethune for The UConn Daily)
