Coach Jumper
I can be there tomorrow
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Caption: "Oh yes I did"
Thursday night's 7PM game will be televised by ESPN
Video of the game winning shot
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- No. 23/23 Tennessee (15-3, 5-1 SEC) will be in Hartford, Conn., on Thursday night to take part in the Basketball Hall of Fame Revival Series vs. #3/5 UConn (16-1, 7-0 AAC) at XL Arena. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. ET. As part of the two-year series, UConn will host Tennessee this season, with a portion of the proceeds benefitting the Pat Summitt Foundation and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In the 2020-21 season, the Lady Vols will host the Huskies in Knoxville, with a portion of the proceeds again benefitting the Pat Summitt Foundation and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, as well as the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.
This will mark the 23rd meeting between these programs, who have combined to win 19 NCAA national championships and 2,538 games. The occasion will present the first-ever match-up between Kellie Harper and Geno Auriemma as head coaches. The last time these teams faced off, they played in the same venue on Jan. 6, 2007, with UT taking a 70-64 decision. The Lady Vols own a three-game win streak in the series with the Huskies, but UConn holds a 13-9 advantage in all games.
RECAPPING OUR LAST GAME
- Rennia Davis' deep, step-back three-pointer with 0.8 seconds remaining lifted No. 23/25 Tennessee past Alabama, 65-63, on Monday night at Thompson-Boling Arena.
- The junior forward's heroics helped the Lady Vols end a five-game losing streak to the Crimson Tide and provide Kellie Harper her 300th career victory as a head coach.
- Freshman Jordan Horston led Tennessee (15-3, 5-1 SEC) in scoring with 19 points and eight rebounds. Davis also had another strong showing, connecting on seven of 11 shots from the field, including her only three-point attempt, to finish with 16 points and nine rebounds.
- Block Party: Tennessee recorded a season-high 13 blocked shots against Alabama. That total tied for third all-time by the Lady Vols. The effort was led by freshmen Tamari Key and Jordan Horston, who combined for 10. Horston blocked a career-high four shots, while Key tied her career high of six blocks. Key has blocked 29 shots in conference play, leading the SEC with an average of 4.8 bpg.
- Big On The Boards: The Lady Vols out-rebounded the Crimson Tide, 45-31. UT has now out-rebounded 16 of 18 opponents and ranks second in the nation in rebounding margin at +15.4.
DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT
- The Lady Vols are allowing opponents only 31.0 percent shooting from the field and have allowed only No. 1/1 Stanford (42.6), Missouri (40.4) and Kentucky (40.0) to shoot better than 39% this season. Eight opponents have failed to shoot 30 percent vs. Tennessee, including Ole Miss, which shot 18.5 percent on Jan. 9. That was the lowest percentage since Jan. 8, 2012, when Arkansas shot 18.2 percent.
- The Lady Vols are giving up 54.9 points per game, which ranks No. 19 nationally and No. 1 in the SEC.
- UT has allowed only two opponents to score 70 or more points this season: No. 1/1 Stanford (78) and No. 13/13 Kentucky (80).
- The Lady Vols are averaging 10 blocks a game over the last three contests.
- Tamari Key is responsible for 5.0 of those per contest during that span.
- Tennessee has shot for a higher percentage than its opponent from the field in every game except for the Texas and Stanford match-ups, in which the Longhorns knocked down 36.2 to UT's 30.6 percent and the Cardinal prevailed, 42.6 to 27.8.
- UT is shooting 50.9 percent from the field and 43.5 on threes the past three games.
- Tennessee shoots 45.9 from the field for the season and has hit better than 46 percent in seven of its last eight games, including four where it shot 50 or better.
- UT is knocking down shots at a 49.6-percent rate during league play to lead all schools.
- The Lady Vols are shooting 33.5 percent on threes for the season, but getting up extra shots is paying off in conference play. The Lady Vols are now connecting on 41.0 percent (32-78) of treys during league play.
- Over the last three games, Lou Brown is hitting 63 percent of her shots and 50 percent on threes for 8.3 ppg. Jazmine Massengill hit five of nine threes for 55.6 percent.
- Tennessee has recorded 14 or more assists in every game but one this season (Stanford, 7) and has tallied 20 or more on six occasions.
- Jordan Horston is 26th nationally and No. 2 in the SEC with 90 assists, and she is 40th/2nd in assists per game (5.0).
- Jazmine Massengill has 82 assts./28 TOs, which is No. 8 in NCAA assist-to-turnover ratio (2.93 to 1).
- The Lady Vols rank 18th nationally, dishing out 18.2 assists per contest.
- UConn welcomed back three starters and seven total letter winners from last season's 35-3 team that lost in the NCAA Final Four semifinals.
- The Huskies have four players averaging double figures, led by 6-1 junior forward Megan Walker (20.5 ppg., 8.8 rpg.). Sophomore Christyn Williams (15.8 ppg.), senior Crystal Dangerfield (15.7 ppg.) and sophomore Olivia Nelson-Ododa (11.3 ppg., 9.1 rpg.) round out that quartet.
- UConn is led by Geno Auriemma, who is 1,078-140 in his 34th season at the helm with 11 NCAA titles.
THE LAST TIME WE MET THE HUSKIES
- Candace Parker left an emphatic mark on Tennessee's storied rivalry with UConn, turning in a 30-point, 12-rebound double-double and dunking at the Hartford Civic Center as the No. 4 Lady Vols held off No. 5 Connecticut, 70-64, on Jan. 6, 2007.
- The slam, which came early in the second half, ironically ignited the Huskies into a 31-15 spurt that would tie the game at 60 with 4:04 to go.
- The Lady Vols, however, were able to wrestle back the lead and keep it for good in winning for the third straight time over UConn.
- Parker hit 12 of 22 shots from the field and six of nine tries from the free throw line. She added six blocks, four assists and a steal while playing all 40 minutes.
- Sidney Spencer was the only other Lady Vol in double figures, just missing a double-double of her own with a 14-point, nine-board effort.
- Charde Houston led the home team with 23 points and eight rebounds.
- The Lady Vols scored 22 points off 14 UConn turnovers and got 65 of their 70 points from their starters.
- UT hit 37 percent from the field, but its seven of 17 shooting (41.2) from the three-point arc proved to be the difference.
Uconn: Last 3 game recaps:
TULSA
Freshman Anna Makurat added a season-high 21 points and Crystal Dangerfield scored 16 for the Huskies (16-1, 7-0), who have won all 109 regular-season conference games and all six AAC tournaments since leaving the Big East for the American. Christyn Williams and Aubrey Griffin each had 11 points. Addison Richards scored 11 points for Tulsa (5-13, 0-5), which has lost five in a row. UConn was coming off two relatively close road wins, beating Memphis by 12 and UCF by seven. But the Huskies scored the first seven points against Tulsa, jumped out to an 11-2 lead and never trailed.
UCF
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Megan Walker scored 19 points and Crystal Dangerfield sparked a big first-half rally, leading No. 4 Connecticut to a 59-52 win over UCF on Thursday night. It was only the second single-digit win for the Huskies (15-1, 6-0 American Athletic) , who are 126-0 in conference games, including tournaments. Dangerfield finished with 13 points, five assists and three steals, and Olivia Nelson-Odala had nine points and 12 rebounds. Kay Kay Wright, who paced UCF with 18 points, led a second-half rally that got the Knights back in the game. UCF'S zone gave UConn problems early in the game and caused two shot-clock violations late in the first quarter. UConn shot 35% in the first half and 38.5% for the game.
MEMPHIS
fourth-ranked UConn used a late run to pull away from Memphis in a 68-56 on Tuesday night. The Huskies (14-1, 5-0 American Athletic Conference) escaped in the final quarter to remain undefeated in league play.. They have not lost a conference game since joining AAC in the 2013-14 season and are 11-0 all-time against Memphis. Megan Walker added 14 points and nine rebounds for the Huskies and Christyn Williams scored 16 points. Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu led the Tigers (9-8, 0-4) with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman guard Madison Griggs scored 12.
VolNation
Of note:
Uconn has played only two ranked opponents, lost by 16 pts to #6 baylor and beat #16 DePaul by ten
Last three opponents’ scores and the opps Masse rating:
- win 68-56 Memphis Masse #155
- win 59-52 UCF Masse #53
- win 92-34 Tulsa Masse #211
- ____ xx-xx UT Masse #29
By the numbers:
- FG%...UC 48% 513/1073 UT 46% 530/1154
- 3pt…UC 39% 104/362 UT 33% 94/281
- FT’s…UC 70% 169/243 UT 66% 193/294
- PPG UC 78.5 opp 55 UT 74.8 opp 54.9
- REBs UC43.1 opp 33.8 UT 49.2 opp 33.8
- Asst/TO’s UC 313/239=1.3 to 1 ratio UT 327/302=1.1 to 1 ratio
- Stls UC 107=6.2 per game UT 155=8.6 per game
- Blks UC 91=5 per game UT 133=7 per game
UCON Last “real” game scouting report : UConn v UCF
Team: The connies had trouble initially with the 3-2. (constant switching on defense will be key),,,They run a ton of penetrate and kick-outs,,,UCF held them to two shot clock violations in Q2,,,Uconn this year goes much deeper into the shot clock on offense,,,They leave a ton of mid-range shots at the elbows and the foul-line on defense because ONO isn’t powerful enough to stop strong-post players so they have to pack in double-teams to help her this leaves the mid-range vulnerable,,,They ran very few fast-breaks, opting to go deep in the clock,,,very little transition offense,,,If they begin to over-pursue on defense, skip passes to the other side are wide open,,,Dangerfield can handle the ball well,,,no one else impressed me in BH,,,UFC was athletic and fairly tall and they gave them fits,,,UCF was impatient on offense, often shooting 25 footer 3’s.
Players scouting report:
If #5 Dangerfield picks the ball up above the arc, suffocate her on closeout, she freaks,,,She is very effective in using ball-fakes to get her defender off-balance,,,She has a habit of picking up the ball one step across half-court (trap her),,,Do not extend ball pressure beyond HC, if/when she beats it they have numbers.
#3 Walker is mid-range and a driver. Shoots a ton of threes,,,Especially effective on the curl at the elbow,,,She is their best givengo threat, she loves to cut and receive,,,She is one we need to put on-the-ball pressure on. Her open court and her ability to create a shot off the dribble are her biggest weaknesses.
#20 Nelson-Odada,,,Box her out or she will use athleticism to jump over you,,,She is extremely “handsy” on defense and drops her arms when a post-up goes up (attack her early and they have no one on the bench like her to replace her),,,She’s a limb in a forest of trees, be physical with her!
Williams will drive and Makurat will shoot. Both one dimensional. Irwin is inconsistent game to game so she may be an ex-factor???
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Summary:
Coach K will have to work the refs and expect inconsistencies (let them play/call every touch foul). This is not UConn of old (the team that overwhelms everybody), this UCconn team earns its victories. Geno will never run a diamond and one, Never! That would be admitting that there is a player better than anyone on his team,,,Both teams have young players who play significant minutes so this is a wash,,,
Coach Jumpers prediction: UT 64 UCON 61
RPI.cim prediction : UT 59 UCON 82
Masse prediction : UT 61 UCON 72
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