UConn-South Florida Game Preview
[Note: this preview was written by doggydaddy]
UConn at South Florida – Saturday, 12:00. TV – SNY
UConn – 26-2 overall, 13-1 conference
South Florida – 19-8 overall, 8-6 conference
Overview – South Florida has had a good season to date. A loss to RU in their last game doesn’t diminish the two games prior where they beat Louisville on the road and Syracuse at home (both ranked). Andrea Smith was named BE player of the week for her work in those two games. They also played a great game against ND before losing 75-71 in OT earlier in the season. They also had double digit losses to Depaul, Creighton, Nebraska and Rutgers.
The 2012-13 version of South Florida is very guard oriented. Led by the senior twin guards, the Smith sisters, and their Ukrainian import, Orekohva, they have taken over 400 three point shots. Andrell Smith is shooting a solid 40 % but her sister and Orekohva are only shooting around 34 %. Orekohva is particularly streaky but doesn’t hesitate to shoot, with 190 three point attempts. At 6’2” she has the size to get her shot off at any time. Andrea Smith, their leading scorer missed all of last year with an ACL injury and has come back in great form. Her sister is leading the team in assists and together, they have been terrific in putting the team in position for an NCAA berth. USF does have some size with Jacobs, McDonald and Rowe, but their contributions are weak.
Fernandez, during his 12 years at USF has become the all time winningest basketball coach (men or women) in school history with 189 wins. He has led USF to eight postseason appearences in the past nine years including a WNIT chamionship in 2009.
Since the loss to Balyor, UConn is back on track winning his last two games by 60 and 40 points. Dolson and KML are playing at an AA level and Faris is right right there with them. It’s disappointing to see that Hartley has slipped some with her shooting again after a few good games. Her defense has been solid. Geno appears to be getting Stewart going again and that is huge for Uconn. It’s important for Geno to get the bench going including Stokes and I’m hoping she will have had a good week of practice and see some time on Saturday. Tuck’s minutes are a mystery to some. Will she get 10+ minutes? We will know at around 2:00 on Saturday.
I have read a lot of concern about last years tough outing between these two teams. And USF did give UConn a good battle for most of that game. But it took a career game by Rowe (20 points) and weak games by Faris and KML. I don’t expect that again. Last years UConn team went only 6 deep for this matchup and were led by Hayes with 30 points and Dolson with 22 points, 18 rebounds and 3 blocks. In looking at the box score, only the Ukrainian sharp shooter and Rowe are back that contributed in that game.
UCONN
Starters
G – Doty 5’10” SR (3.8 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 2.5 apg)
F – Hartley 5’9” JR (9.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.1 apg)
F – Faris 5’11” SR (10.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 4.1 apg)
F – KML SO 6’ (17.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 2.3 apg)
C – Dolson 6’5” (14.0 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 3.1 apg)
Bench
Stewart 6’4″ FR ( 12.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 1.0 apg)
Tuck FR 6’2” (6.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.2 apg)
Jefferson FR 5’7″ (4.3 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 1.9 apg)
Stokes SO 6’3″ (2.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg, .7 apg)
Coach – Geno Auriemma
SOUTH FLORIDA
Starters
PG – Andrell Smith 5’8” SR (13.8 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 4.9 apg)
SG – Andrea Smith 5’8” SR (16.8 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 1.4 apg)
SF – Orhekhova 6’2” JR (12.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.7 apg)
PF – Jenkins 6’2” FR (6.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg, .7 apg)
C – McDonald 6’4” JR (3.8 ppg, 5.7 rpg, .3 apg)
Bench
Williams 5’8” FR (7.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg, .8 apg)
Rowe 6’4” FR (3.2 ppg, 2.6 rpg, .5 apg)
Conner 5’9” SR (2.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg, .9 apg)
Coach – Jose Fernandez
Team Stats Uconn listed first
Points / game: 82.6, 71.3
Rebounds / game: 42.9, 45.0
Assists / game: 21.0, 14.1
Turnovers/game: 13.8, 16.6
Opponents PPG: 46.9, 59.4
Field goal %: 49.6, 38.8
Opponents FG%: 30.7, 36.0
3pt percentage: 37.7, 34.2
Steals / game: 10.8, 11.1
Block / game: 5.8, 4.9
Final analysis – As well as USF has played at times this year, it will be difficult for them to duplicate their results from last year, when they were only down one 3 minutes into the second half. They will have to shoot really well from deep and pressure Uconn into more turnovers than usual to have any chance. I think the bigger question is whether or not Uconn will be distracted by the fun and sun of south Florida and be looking ahead to ND on Monday.
Final prediction – I’m thinking that UConn will find a way to put aside the warm weather distractions and focus on the USF game. UConn guards will be up to the challenge and they win by 20+.
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