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Message: [QUOTE="cferraro04, post: 4891139, member: 267"] [B][COLOR=rgb(226, 80, 65)][SIZE=7]COMMENTS[/SIZE][/COLOR][/B] [COLOR=rgb(0, 0, 0)][SIZE=5]In the first meeting this season between DePaul and UConn, the Huskies came away with a 37-point victory 88-51. The game played out as I suspected with the Huskies running up a big lead early and then backing off the gas out of Geno's close friendship with Coach Bruno. This game was played in front of the Husky-friendly home crowd at Storrs, CT. What was surprising to me, despite being a graduate-student heavy starting line-up DePaul's resistance to the Husky assault was rather anemic. Their first game provided Geno with an opportunity to play his bench extensively. Qadence Samuels got 21 minutes, Ice Brady got 20 minutes, Ines Bettencourt got 17 minutes and Amari DeBerry got 11 minutes. The results were to be expected: Qadence had 5 points and five rebounds; Ice Brady while committing 5 turnovers and fouling out of the game got 6 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals, Ines Bettencourt had 2 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, and 3 steals; And, with only 11 minutes of playing time Amari DeBerry managed to get 8 points and 5 rebounds. This was by far our best bench performance since Aubrey Griffin went down to a mid-season injury. After the first half, UConn was up 49 to 21. From there the Huskies never needed to look back outscoring the Blue Demons 21-17 in the 3rd quarter and 18-13 in the 4th despite playing 4 reserves in the second half. The Blue Demons are 12 and 16 overall and 4 and 11 in conference. DePaul currently has an RPI of 161 and a SOS of 74 with a projected RPI of 167 and a SOS of 83. UConn's RPI currently is 5 and its SOS is 2. UConn is 23-5 overall and 15 and 0 in conference. DePaul's probable starting line-up will feature 4 graduate students and 1 Sophomore (Anaya Peoples - GR; Jorie Allen - GR; Kaitlyn Gilbert - GR; Michele Sidor - GR; Maeve McErlane - Sophomore). This is a very experienced starting five. They will have the advantage of playing at home and this late in the season I would expect that they will be playing better basketball than what we saw in Storrs on January 20th. However, the same can be said for UConn, after experiencing 5 losses especially their most recent one in South Carolina, and after having a week off to rest and tweak their defense and offense I expect that after dispelling some rust from the week off UConn will be playing their best basketball. Even though this game may be closer and more competitive, I do not expect that UConn will have too much trouble putting DePaul away handily. [/SIZE][/COLOR] [COLOR=rgb(226, 80, 65)][SIZE=7][B]ANALYSIS[/B][/SIZE] [SIZE=6][B]Aaliyah Edwards - 6'3" vs Jorie Allen - 6'0"[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR][COLOR=rgb(0, 0, 0)][SIZE=5] - Jorie is DePaul's only starter who is listed as a front-court player (Forward). At 6'0" she is giving up 3 inches to Aaliyah. Additionally, Aaliyah is playing like an All-American averaging 18.1 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. She also contributes 1 block, 1.5 steals, and 2.1 assists per game. Jorie Allen is DePaul's second most productive player averaging 11 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.2 steals per game. Jorie had a bit of a frustrating day against UConn in their first meeting only scoring 2 points. I expect that Aaliyah will have a big game on Sunday. [/SIZE][/COLOR][COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)][SIZE=6][B]ADVANTAGE UCONN[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR] [COLOR=rgb(226, 80, 65)][SIZE=6][B]Paige Bueckers - 6'0" vs Anaya Peoples - 5'11"[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR][COLOR=rgb(0, 0, 0)][SIZE=5] - This is the marquis match-up of the game. Anaya has had some very big games for DePaul this season. She is averaging 18 points, 8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.6 steals, and 1 block per game. Paige is producing similar stats across the board however, she is doing it against much better competition. Paige is averaging 20.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 2.2 steals, and 1.1 blocks. Anaya was held to only 8 points in their first meeting. Anaya is not generally a three-point threat however, Paige is averaging 2.1 three-pointers a game and is capable of hitting 4 or 5 in any given game. [/SIZE][/COLOR] [COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)][SIZE=6][B]ADVANTAGE - UCONN[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR] [COLOR=rgb(226, 80, 65)][SIZE=6][B]Nika Muhl - 5'11" vs Kaitlyn Gilbert - 5'10"[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR][COLOR=rgb(0, 0, 0)][SIZE=5] - Kaitlyn is a solid basketball player averaging 8.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 2.5 steals per game...she scored 8 points against UConn in their first meeting. Nika is UConn's spark plug...her presence on the floor is essential to UConn's ability to do what it wants offensively and defensively. No one coming off the bench can duplicate what Nika brings to each game. Nika is averaging 7.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.5 three-pointers. [/SIZE][/COLOR][COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)][SIZE=6][B]ADVANTAGE - UCONN[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR] [COLOR=rgb(226, 80, 65)][SIZE=6][B]Ashlynn Shade - 5'10" vs Maeve McErlane - 5'10"[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR][COLOR=rgb(0, 0, 0)][SIZE=5] - Maeve McErlane had a good game against UConn in January. She scored 15 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal. Most importantly Maeve went off for 5 threes going 5-9. Ashlynn however, also had a great game against DePaul in January. She scored 21 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal while going 2-7 from three-point land. A key stat was that Ashlynn had zero turnovers while Maeve had 6 turnovers. [/SIZE][/COLOR] [COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)][SIZE=6][B]ADVANTAGE - UCONN[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR] [COLOR=rgb(226, 80, 65)][SIZE=6][B]KK Arnold - 5'9" vs Michelle Sidor - 5'9"[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR][COLOR=rgb(0, 0, 0)][SIZE=5] - We have all been chomping at the bit for KK to be more offensively productive. In her first meeting with DePaul, she only tallied 2 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists while committing 3 turnovers. Michelle tallies 7 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal while committing 5 turnovers. Michelle also was able to hit on 1 three ball in 6 attempts. KK averages 8.8 points, 2.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 2.3 steals. Michelle averages 8.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and .7 steals per game. Michelle is also averaging 2 three-pointers per game. [/SIZE][/COLOR][COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)] [SIZE=6][B]ADVANTAGE - DEPAUL[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR] [COLOR=rgb(226, 80, 65)][SIZE=7][B]BENCH [/B][/SIZE][/COLOR] [COLOR=rgb(0, 0, 0)][SIZE=5]DePaul will bring 28.5 points and 14.6 rebounds off the bench. UConn will bring 10.9 points and 7.3 rebounds off the bench. [/SIZE] [/COLOR][COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)][SIZE=6][B]AVANTAGE - DEPAUL[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR] [COLOR=rgb(226, 80, 65)][SIZE=7][B]INTANGIBLES[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR] [COLOR=rgb(0, 0, 0)][SIZE=5]This game will be played in Chicago at Wintrust Arena but, the Huskies have too much talent and fire-power and will overcome the disadvantage of playing away from home. [/SIZE][/COLOR][COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)][SIZE=6][B]ADVANTAGE - UCONN[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR] [COLOR=rgb(226, 80, 65)][SIZE=7][B]COACHING [/B][/SIZE][/COLOR] [COLOR=rgb(0, 0, 0)][SIZE=5]I love watching Bruno coach...great guy, a great coach but since 2006 UConn has been 23 and 0 when playing DePaul. [/SIZE][/COLOR][COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)][SIZE=6][B]ADVANTAGE - UCONN[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR] [COLOR=rgb(226, 80, 65)][SIZE=7][B]SCORE [/B][/SIZE][/COLOR] [COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)][SIZE=6][B]UConn - 82 DePaul - 63 MOV - 19[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR] [/QUOTE]

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