Loss Drops Huskies to No. 8
The Story: Coming off Sunday’s road loss to N.C. State, the women’s basketball team fell six spots to No. 8 in the new AP Top 25 rankings released yesterday.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: UConn (1-1) was among several ranked teams that lost during the opening week, but the Huskies still set a record with their 566th consecutive week in the top 25, breaking a tie with Tennessee for the longest streak ever.
• Former No. 1 LSU fell to No. 7, while South Carolina moved up five spots to become the top-ranked team, followed in order by Iowa, UCLA, Utah, Colorado, and Stanford. N.C. State’s victory over UConn catapulted the Wolfpack into the top 25 at No. 14.
• By the way, UConn plays No. 3 UCLA on Nov. 24 in the Cayman Islands.
SAMUELS HONORED: Qadence Samuels was named Big East Freshman of the Week, coming off her first two college games against Dayton and N.C. State.
• Samuels, a 6-foot guard from Forestville, Md., averaged 12.5 points per game and leads the team in three-pointers, hitting 7-of-13 (53.8 percent) shots from distance.
• Against N.C. State, when UConn needed someone other than Bueckers and Aaliyah Edwards to hit big shots, Samuels stepped into the role without fear — a great sign from a true freshman in only her second college game.
NO DEFENSE: It’s not unusual for UConn to score 92 points. In fact, the Huskies scored 92 or more points in six games last season.
• But it’s a rare feat for a team to score 92 points against the Huskies, as N.C. State did. As noted in yesterday’s Daily, Sunday’s loss marked the first time in more than 22 years that UConn gave up as many as 92 points in a regulation game.
PAIGE THE SAGE: At the postgame press conference, Geno Auriemma cited his team’s inability to make any defensive stops. But Paige Bueckers, who joined Geno in the press room, went a step further and — as a leader — took responsibility for not setting the “tone” for the Huskies defensively.
• More from Bueckers: “Defense is a will; you have to want to do it. You have to embrace that. You can have slow feet, but if you have a big heart, it makes up for it. We have the ability to change that and be better at practice and demand it out of ourselves first. And then once we start doing it, once I start doing it, [we] older guys can hold each other accountable and hold everyone else on our team accountable. It has to start with us. It has to start with me.”
• When she was done speaking, Geno offered no reaction to the words of his best player — because he couldn’t have said it any better.
UP NEXT: UConn goes from playing the current No. 14 ranked team (N.C. State) to playing the former No. 14 team, Maryland, now ranked 20th. The game takes place Thursday at Gampel Pavilion (6:30 p.m., FS1).
— David Kull
Huskies Host the Delta Devils
The Story: The No. 5-ranked UConn men will have their final tune-up, and a chance for Dan Hurley to play with the rotation, as they host Mississippi Valley State tonight at the XL Center (7 p.m., FS2)
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Mississippi Valley State is the lowest-ranked team in KenPom at No. 362. So, we’re thoroughly expecting UConn’s margin of victory — 41.5 points per game — to go up. That doesn’t mean there’s no value in the game for the Huskies. It allows UConn’s newcomers and freshmen, including Stephon Castle, to get acclimated to college basketball.
• Castle, who was named the season’s first Big East Freshman of the Week, averaged 14.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game last week.
• In addition to the freshmen, transfer guard Cam Spencer is working his way into the lineup and looking to get his shooting stroke going. Spencer is averaging 10 points per game but shooting only 30 percent from 3-point range. His passing has been stellar, however, as he leads the team with 11 assists.
• The Huskies get one final tune-up before they play in the Empire Classic on Sunday against another college basketball blue blood in Indiana. Indiana, coached by Mike Woodson. The Hoosiers struggled with Army on Sunday and play Wright State on Thursday before heading to the East Coast.
HUSKIES MOVE UP IN AP: UConn moved up one spot in the AP poll and is ranked No. 5 in the nation. The top four teams in the country are Kansas, Purdue, Arizona and Marquette.
ABOUT MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE: If the college rings a bell, it’s because it’s the school that Jerry Rice attended before he went on to his Hall of Fame career.
• The Delta Devils (0-2), out of the SWAC, lost 106-60 to LSU and 82-43 to Oklahoma. They begin the season with 13 straight road games as they barnstorm the country before conference play.
• Rayquon Brown leads the team with 15.4 points per game.
— John Silver
Top photo: Geno Auriemma has trusted Nika Muhl to run the offense. (Ian Bethune for The UConn Daily)
