UConn-BYU Preview
by doggydaddy
#1 UConn vs BYU
Saturday March 29, 4:30
Television – ESPN, Radio – WTIC AM
Records UConn 36-0, BYU 28-6
Overview
It’s been quite a while since UConn and BYU played each other. Jeff Judkins was of the mind that to grow his program he needed to play the best and at the time, that was UConn. He’s been a fairly successful coach and a lot of fun to watch on the sidelines. Very animated.
UConn and BYU had a home and home in 2007 and in 2008 with UConn winning handily in both, 96-47 at home and 80-34 on the road. Clearly two different level programs, but Judkins has done a nice job at BYU in his 13 years. He has won 23+ games the last 5 seasons with 6 NCAA appearances overall.
Ok, enough history. None of that matters in regards to the Sweet Sixteen matchup.
UConn is coming into this game playing as well as they have all season. Their offensive effectiveness has been off the charts. There are several reasons for this and most are obvious to the eye. Each starter is playing as well as they have all season. I can’t remember another team that was so zoned in at this time of year. Even last year, when they rolled through the tourney, I just didn’t get that feeling. I know the bench play is a big topic for UConn fans. We haven’t had a debate like that since the “what is a jump shot” debacle but when you have starters that can play 35 minutes with no drop, the role of the bench is just solid play.
As an 12 seed, BYU has upset two higher seeds in becoming the third 12 seed to make the sweet sixteen. They beat power conference ACC team NCST in the first round 72-57 and power conference B1G team Nebraska 80-76 in the second round. Led by 6’7” senior Jennifer Hamson, BYU has won 28 games, the most ever under Judkins and in BYU women’s basketball history. Hamson had 9 blocks to lead the Cougars over NCST and had 14 rebounds against Nebraska.
UConn Starting Lineup
| 14 G Bria Hartley | SR 5’9” | 31.6 mpg, 16.5 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 4.4 apg |
| 5 G Moriah Jefferson | SO 5’7” | 29.0 mpg, 10.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 4.9 apg |
| 30 F/C Breana Stewart | SO 6’4” | 29.9 mpg, 19.7 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 3.1 apg |
| 23 F Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis | JR 6′ | 27.9 mpg, 12.7 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.6 apg |
| 31 C Stefanie Dolson | SR 6’5” | 31.0 mpg, 12.4 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 3.4 apg |
UConn Bench
| 13 G Briana Banks | JR 5’9” | 15.8 mpg, 3.9 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 1.4 apg |
| 41 C/F Kia Stokes | JR 6’3” | 18.8 mpg, 4.5 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 0.9 apg |
| 12 G Sanyia Chong | FR 5’9” | 18.9 mpg, 5.2 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.7 apg |
BYU Starting Lineup
| 5 C Jennifer Hamson | SR 6’7” | 30.8 mpg, 18.0 ppg, 11.5 rpg, 1.0 apg |
| 4 G Kim Beeston | SR 5’11” | 29.6 mpg, 11.2 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 4.2 apg |
| 15 G Kylie Maeda | SO 5’5” | 26.9 mpg, 4.9 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 3.2 apg |
| 21 G Lexi Eaton | SO 5’10” | 34.4 mpg, 17.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.3 apg |
| 41 F Morgan Bailey | JR 6’2” | 22.3 mpg, 11.2 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 1.3 apg |
BYU Bench
| 03 G Ashley Garfield | 5’10” JR | 21.3 mpg, 4.1ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.8 apg |
| 11 G Xojian Harry | 5’11” JR | 13.4 mpg, 3.0 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 0.1 apg |
| 10 G Stephanie Rovetti | 5’6” JR | 12.3 mpg, 2.4 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 1.8 apg |
Team Stats
| UConn | BYU | |
| Scoring Offense | 83.7 | 72.6 |
| Scoring Defense | 47.0 | 64.0 |
| Scoring Margin | 36.7 | 8.6 |
| Field Goal % | 49.7 | 43.8 |
| Field Goal % Defense | 30.1 | 35.1 |
| Free Throw % | 76.2 | 72.9 |
| Rebounds per game | 43.4 | 42.4 |
| Rebound Margin | 9.0 | 6.4 |
| 3pt FG Per Game | 7.0 | 6.3 |
| 3 point % | 33.8 | 36.0 |
| Assists Per Game | 21.0 | 16.8 |
| Blocked Shots Per Game | 8.9 | 6.3 |
| Steals Per Game | 10.3 | 5.4 |
| TO Per Game | 11.9 | 16.3 |
| Personal Fouls Per Game | 11.7 | 17.9 |
| Disqualifications | 2 | 12 |
| 3 pt FG Defense | 26.1 | 34.0 |
| Turnover Margin | 6.7 | .5 |
| Assist Turnover Ratio | 1.8 | 1.0 |
Game analysis
I had a chance to watch the two NCAA games this week. YAY ESPN3!!!! So, I’m basing any BYU analysis on these two games and a little box score analysis as well.
It’s really hard not to go overboard and be overly optimistic about Connecticut. Offensively, I don’t think I’ve seen a team as in sync (two words, Tony) with each other. They are in constant movement, setting screens all over the court. They seem to just know what each other are going to do. They cut hard and with purpose. Individually, each player appears to be playing as good as they have at any time this year. With the breakout performance of KML, the starting 5 is complete.
Now how does that apply to the BYU defense? Hamson is a handful as her 9 blocks against NC State will attest to, but I’m confident Geno will have a good plan to take her out of the game. It should be a great 1-1 match up with Dolson and Hamson. I don’t think Hamson has seen a player as big and as nimble with nifty post moves like Dolson but Dolson hasn’t seen a player like Hamson since Griner. And Dolson didn’t always have great success against her. Now, Hamson is no Dolson and Dolson is now a confident and experienced senior. Should be fun to watch.
Against the UConn offense, BYU will have 6’2” Morgan Bailey as the only other size of significance. Every other player, starter and bench, is under 6′. Bailey will be guarding Stewart and she, like most defenders, will have trouble. She is neither big enough nor quick enough to guard her. Jefferson is too quick for her defender, most likely Maeda.
As much as the UConn offense should overwhelm the BYU defense, Hamson is good enough defensively to alter and block shots, something UConn is not used to. It should be interesting to see how they react to this. I would expect Dolson to pull Hamson out from the paint with her high post game and UConn to take advantage of their size with Stewart and KML posting up.
BYU’s offense is about good ball movement. They are a decent passing team but really turnover prone. I know, sounds like a conflict of terms, but they do pass the ball to get open shots, but they make a lot of mistakes for short stretches of time. Hamson has a nice inside game with a solid turnaround jumper. She is long and has nice hands. I do like Bailey’s game. She plays hard and has a nice elbow jumper and a very good post up game. I will be interested to see how she reacts the first time she takes that little hook in the paint and Stewart blocks it. Beeston is a very good shooter and she’s shot 40% on threes and she has taken 236 of them this year. To put that in perspective, Hartley leads UConn with 196 attempts. It’s a big part of the BYU offense and UConn will have to look for the cross-court passes, skip passes and inside-out passes for open 3’s. BYU’s only chance to keep it close is to make a UL/Baylor type percentage of 3 point shots. With the lack of size other than Hamson and Bailey, UConn should be able to stay close to the shooters. BYU is not very quick so I don’t see a lot of drive and dish for 3’s.
Final prediction – UConn should win this handily to no one’s surprise. BYU has had a nice run, but it will end in the first half. I wouldn’t be surprised with a 15-15 score after 10 minutes, but UConn will eventually overwhelm them with their size and quickness. If BYU can hit some threes, they could keep it to around 20, but I will go with a 30+ point win for the Huskies.
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