Seton Hall Postgame Thread (merged)

[EricLA]

I honestly didn't think the first half was that bad but...Geno was not happy at all. I'm not going to put quotes around his halftime answer because this is from memory but... he was asked about maintaining momentum from the great SC win...

There was absolutely no momentum from the SC game. Kids these days are ridiculous. They thought after SC that Seton Hall was just going to roll over. I said before the game that they would outrebound us and they are. They are out working us, out hustling us, and out playing us. This is nonsense.

Even Kara Wolters, normally a cheerleader, said the half was just "ick". 10 TO's against SC, and 7 already against Seton Hall. Meghan said the team is immature. Rebounding was kinda ugly and lackadaisical. Was hoping to see continued improvement from Jana, but meh. Azzi, aside from one nice pull up, was MIA. Paige ended the half grabbing her knee and limping off the court (I'll admit a moment of concern for this old heart). KK putting up too many 3's. Ash fouling on defense with 3 seconds left on the shot clock. I think all that added to Geno's frustration.

Anyway, they seemed to start slowly in Q3, but then went on a roll. 30-13 outscoring Seton Hall is impressive in any quarter.

• Paige my POG. She really played well all over the floor. That steal at the end of Q3 to then get fouled with 3 seconds left in the quarter was really a heads up play.
• Nice game from Chen. She doesn't take a lot of shots, but never seems to take a bad one.
• Nice game from Shade as well. She seems to have picked right up from where she ended in the SC game.
• My goodness, Aubrey! Great seeing her doing Aubrey things. Getting extended minutes really helped. 5-5 from the floor, 5-6 from the FT line. That steal and then full court sprint and layup was really nice.
• Sarah was solid but not great
• Much better rebounding in the 2nd half

On the flip side... I thought KK and Azzi both had subpar games, and Jana took a step backwards.

With the subs coming in starting with 6 minutes left in the game (Allie shortly followed by Q), I did not expect Q4 to be a thing of beauty. So winning the Q by 10 was just a bonus.

Bottom line a nice win. Certainly uneven at times, but a lot of good in a 40+ point win! Geno MAY have a LOT to say when the team watches the tape of the game, but the team certainly got the memo at halftime...

On edit... After the game Geno - "I thought we got a little better - we looked a little more connected. we got sloppy with our ball handling. I thought the 2nd half we did a much better job. The more Aubrey plays the better she's going to be - she loves playing here (Seton Hall). It's her favorite place to play! the more minutes she gets the better she will be. We know what we are going to get from Ash - she's pretty consistent. I'm proud of the bench because for the most part you know what you are going to get from them."

 

[oldude]

Some thoughts on the Seton Hall game:

• It feels like we are in the home stretch to the Big Dance. While the top teams in the P4 conferences will be battling each other furiously over the next few weeks, UConn has the relative luxury to focus on polishing up their execution, solidifying the rotation and getting everyone healthy for the post season.
• I keep finding new things to like about Sarah. Over the past two games Sarah has demonstrated one of the prettiest baby-hooks you’ll see in wbb.
• After the HUGE win at SC, you might have expected a bit of a letdown by the Huskies against the Pirates, and sure enough, the Huskies were not particularly sharp to start the game against an aggressive Seton Hall team.
• Surprisingly, UConn really needed Paige to take over the game, particularly in the 1st half, which she did, leading the Huskies with 23 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists, while passing DT, the GOAT, on the all-time UConn scoring list.
• Paige has been getting banged around a lot this season. In the last 2 games she has come up limping 3 times: once at SC, earlier in the game vs SH and then right before the half as she hobbled off the court directly into the locker room. We all got to hold our breath until Paige came out for the 2nd half and buried a mid-range jumper.
• Everyone on UConn plays hard. But Ashlynn has another gear. My goodness does she hustle all over the court.
• Aubrey with yet another really good game at mom & dad's alma mater.
• Not the prettiest game. But who am I to quibble over a 42 pt UConn victory on the road. GO HUSKIES!

 

[hoopsfan22]

Player of the Game: Paige Bueckers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[victor64]

With Azzi having an off night scoring (not even that many attempts), Paige found her stroke and picked up the slack.

Too bad Ash got those two quick first half fouls because she was feeling it on offense.

Knowing where Paige stands on the career scoring list,I may be in the minority but I think she is a better distributor than scorer. She has such great vision.

Fouls, turnovers and low 3 point percentage made it look sloppy at times but they still put 91.

Watching Aubrey round into shape and getting minutes and scoring is a huge boost.

Geno used this game to work on some things. Aubrey played some 5 and the Huskies played some 2-3 zone. I wonder if a zone would work against UCLA.

It was only a matter of time before UConn would widen the gap. The Pirates just can't guard all the Husky weapons.

 

[maple]

Not a pretty game, refs inserted themselves far too much, especially in the first half.

However, there were a lot of good things overall and I’m glad that Paige is okay.

On to the next.

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[Bone Dog]

A bit of a lull in energy after the previous game -- who didn't see that coming? But Paige did Paige things and notched a line of 23 pts (8-13), 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. It's hard to complain about that.

Ash did Ash things -- 14 pts on 5-7 shooting, 2-3 from 3, 5 rebounds and 2 steals. And she was everywhere on the court.

Kaitlyn scored 15 pts on 6-7. She got away with a few ill-judged passes, but overall had a very good game

And finally, Aubrey had 15 pts of 5-5 shooting and 5-6 FTs, 5 rebounds and a steal in 18 minutes. This was a great comeback game for her.

 

[fomalhaut]

32nd straight season with 25 wins

 

[Ozimoto]

Looked like a bit of a hangover after the performance from Sunday. Not all that surprising. Hard to get too upset about a 42 point win. Throw out the first half and move on. Another real good game from Ashlyn and Aubrey. Kaitlyn played well. How they play in the next game is going to be the real indication of how they will play into the post season.

 

[Vowelguy]

20/24 FT

 

[gold2323]

Coach John Wooden use to say “ avoid peaks and valleys….we hit the peak and avoided the valley today.
Paige is Paige….Aubrey is becoming Aubrey….
Love Shade plays old school basketball and is a fundamental machine….Chen is becoming what she was at Princeton.
We are going to be tough in March like we always are…..

 

[Happydad745]

I expected more after the SC game, but it did not happen...a 40 pt. win is great, although the game seemed to go from one flow to another and at times was boring. Hoping to see more from Azzi in future games, UConn really needs her to be an aggressive shooter.
Shade's pull up jumpers were awesome.

 

[Puppy Love]

Depending on the source, Walsh seats between 1,300 and 1,400 people. I think it would be difficult to get excited about playing…you can’t feed off the crowd. Felt like a flat tire after SC.

 

[Huskie837]

Little bit of a let down in the first half for sure. A road game and that gym is a throwback environment. Remember when they played without that curtain end covering up that stage on one end? Think they held the Big East Tournament there a couple times back in the early 90s.....

 

[Centerstream]

They started off the game kinda slow and didn't seem to be intense. I think that this is kinda normal coming into another road game after that intense road victory in Columbia. I thought that they corrected this in the 3rd quarter, especially since they already had a comfortable lead.
But I was kinda wondering about Jana's game, especially after her great effort in Columbia. She just didn't seem as engaged in the game during the first half. It did seem like her effort was much better in the 4th quarter. My thinking about her game was that she wasn't getting any calls from the refs and it affected her.
But it was a nice comfortable win.

 

[Basingstoke]

I thought that the first half was pretty dreadful as a team, but not unexpected coming off their spectacular performance against South Carolina.
The second half was like night and day, with the highlight being a much better effort on the boards.
Paige was pretty spectacular (though still not hitting on her 3 pont shots) and was back to being Ms Automatic on her 2 pointers and on the line. Again, a great floor game, too. Crossing fingers that she will not feel ill effects from the moments that left her limping.
It was great to see Kaitlyn, Ash and Aubrey get into double figures and to see Aubrey continue to shake off the rust and Ash providing brilliant shooting and hustle plays.
For me, Jana gets a pass for a game where she backslid a bit...
All in all, a good win. On to Butler.

 

[huskeynut]

Not surprised that the team was a little sluggish and off. Had to expect it.

Give the Hall some credit for being a scrappy team. The defended well and it made getting 3 pointers off difficult.

The second half was a much better performance. Better offensive flow, good defense and rebounding.

Tonight Paige did all those Paige things. Took more mid range jumpers. That was what the defense gave her.

Kaitlyn and Ash were great. Starting to see the Aubrey we all know and love.

The officiating left much to be desired. No consistency from quarter to quarter.

 

[msf22b]

I thought the refs did as much to inhibit the Husky's as did the Hall in the first half of this strangely called game.

Jana is a freshman there will be ups and downs

 

[topogigio]

A 42 point win. and didn't really play well for 2 quarters. We'll take it and move on.

 

[ThisJustIn]

Post game radio with Bob, Debbie and CD:

Family here?
My niece goes to school here.

Coach at half not happy pre SNY

One of the hardest games - 2 hardest games. Game before a big game and game after. We did a lot of good things. Too many TO. Shot ball well. Just not as connected as it was on Sunday. That's the goal. Sometimes you can be connected and miss shots. Were disjointed. Some of that has to do with SH.

Fouls. *UCOnn too many) But strong in 3rd.
3rd quarter, outscored them significantly. Did same v. SC. Not usual this season.

Aubrey!

Don't know of anyone else who plays as well at SH as Aubrey. Played good minutes. Played well. Start looking like herself. It's a process

SH was focused on Fudd. But Chen and Shade stepped up early.

Chen made shots when we were trying to figure out stuff. KC played well. Ashlyn, too. I need to look at film. Slow start -- was it them or us? Not using ball screens. Four offensive fouls on moving screens. Watch film to see if it was us or therm.

Slow start, but numbers looked good. But you've seen what they can do when all clicking.... what's your take.

Your expectation changes. At this time of season, we have every right to expect to play at a certain level. Ok to be disappointed if we don't, but didn't stop playing. It's a challenge. Third road game in a row. Back on bus to go home. Finish road games at tough place. They run stuff. It'll be a challenge.

Paige rebounds

As the four, creates some problems for us and the opponent. She's a good rebounder. Wanted her to get a double double. Don't think she's doing anything different. Maybe more positionally. With SC, our bigs were boxing out, so guards got rebounds.

 

[RoadMaster]

Swipe..

 

[itsasport]

Having an off night on 3's but still achieving 91 points is a very good sign that a great 3-point night is not necessary for UConn to score a lot of points.

 

[ThisJustIn]