Analysis and Comments - Game 26 - UConn vs Xavier

[cferraro04]

COMMENTS

It has to be very tough to have to face UConn when you are at the bottom of your conference after UConn lost a big game on national television. Xavier is having a very difficult season with 1 win and 20 losses. I don't expect UConn to have much trouble with Xavier. I think Geno will once again try to get Ice Brady going and try to work Q into the line-up early after UConn rushes out to a big lead. He will use this game to try and work on a few things that need to be worked on. Setting picks and freeing up Bueckers and Shade for shots. He will work on switches when guards drive the lane. He will also want to start working on some zone as he is going to need to play zone against teams with height. Muhl is going to have to put up more shots and KK needs to be more selective on the shots she takes driving the lane while the "big trees" are in the paint waiting to block shots.

The match-ups below are predictive and in no way are a guarantee as to whom the Xavier coaching staff will assign to guard which opponent. All conclusions as to who has the ADVANTAGE are predictive and based on current statistics.

ANALYSIS

Aaliyah Edwards - 6'3" vs Nila Blackford - 6'2" - Aaliyah played exceptionally well against South Carolina and has been the Huskies' best and only post-player this whole season. Aaliyah is averaging 17.8 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1 block per game. Nila averages 8.5 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.0 steals, and .8 blocks. ADVANTAGE - UCONN

Paige Bueckers - 6'0 vs Mackayla Skarlett - 5'10" - No one on Xavier can contain Paige. Paige averages 20.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 2.2 steals, 1.1 blocks and 2 three-pointers per game. and Mackayla Skarlett averages 14.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 2.0 steals, and 2 three-points per game. ADVANTAGE - UCONN

Nika Muhl - 5'11" vs Daniela Lopez - 5'8" - Nika averages 7.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 6.1 assists, and 1.2 steals per game, and Daniela averages 6.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.0 steals per game. Nika's defense will make Daniela's night miserable. ADVANTAGE - UCONN

Ashlynn Shade - 5'10" vs Alzhanique Mayo - 5'9" - Ashlynn is averaging 11.3 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists, .8 steals, and 1.7 three-pointers. Alzhanique averages 10.1 points, 2.3 rebounds, .9 assists, .9 steals, and 1.8 three-pointers. ADVANTAGE (slight) - UCONN

KK Arnold - 5'9" vs Tae'ler Purvis - 5'7" - KK is averaging 9.1 points, 2.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 2.2 steals. Tae'ler averages 7.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.6 steals per game. KK will be too quick for Tae'ler and she will make it difficult for Tae'ler to do the things she wants to do. ADVANTAGE - UCONN

BENCH

UConn brings 11.8 and 6.7 rebounds off the bench. Xavier brings 19.0 points and 10.2 rebounds off the bench. ADVANTAGE - XAVIER

INTANGIBLES

The game will be played in Cincinnati but it won't make a difference. UConn has too much firepower and too much talent. ADVANTAGE - UCONN

COACHING

Geno and his staff will have the game plan, they will let UConn run and score...look for UConn to cross the century mark in points. ADVANTAGE - UCONN

SCORE

UConn - 108
Xavier - 38

MOV - 70

 

[Bone Dog]

Bounce back, oh please bounce back!

And thanks again, @cferraro04!

 

[boscolino]

Well, giving to X the advantage on the "bench section" says a lot about the actual littleness of our players

 

[Tonyc]

Im expecting this will be a game where the team can work on things they were working on in practice. Im hoping that we see signs of improvement especially in shooting. We need more scorers. We can not expect to win big games with 2/3 scorers.

 

[Centerstream]

I hope that we get off to a very good start and then the Coaches take over by running specific plays on offense to get the shots by the "correct" player with plenty of time left on the shot clock.
The defense will take care of itself.

 

[ed4ourgirls]

We've got another game on Friday. That's a fast turnaround. Since our opponent on
Wednesday is one of the worst teams in the country, I would expect Geno to rest his
starters as much as possible. That means minutes in the 20-25 range for Ice and Q,
and even double digit minutes for Ines and Amari.

 

[Centerstream]

We've got another game on Friday. That's a fast turnaround. Since our opponent on
Wednesday is one of the worst teams in the country, I would expect Geno to rest his
starters as much as possible. That means minutes in the 20-25 range for Ice and Q,
and even double digit minutes for Ines and Amari.

True but having two games in three days is a prelude to tournament games so I don't think that Geno will rest the starters too much. He is in tournament preparation mode for the rest of the regular season.

 

[Urshurak]

We've got another game on Friday. That's a fast turnaround. Since our opponent on
Wednesday is one of the worst teams in the country, I would expect Geno to rest his
starters as much as possible. That means minutes in the 20-25 range for Ice and Q,
and even double digit minutes for Ines and Amari.

Nope. Geno already said exactly how maany minutes those two will play. Q is more unknown. Geno is in tournament mode. It is what it is. See his comments after the SC game.

BTW, won't be ANY surprise if Xavier has the game of the year. 6-8 from 3 in first quarter alone. X player who has never scored more than 3 points a game suddenly has a breakout, etc. Everyone always semst to go gangbusters against UConn this year. It's odd. Remember Butlers 3 point shooting? In the end, obviously UConn wins, but I'm expecting something weird....

 

[ed4ourgirls]

Nope. Geno already said exactly how maany minutes those two will play. Q is more unknown. Geno is in tournament mode. It is what it is. See his comments after the SC game.

BTW, won't be ANY surprise if Xavier has the game of the year. 6-8 from 3 in first quarter alone. X player who has never scored more than 3 points a game suddenly has a breakout, etc. Everyone always semst to go gangbusters against UConn this year. It's odd. Remember Butlers 3 point shooting? In the end, obviously UConn wins, but I'm expecting something weird....

Went pretty much as I expected.

Ice 24m, Q 23m, Ines 13m, Amari 7m

 

[Urshurak]

Went pretty much as I expected.

Ice 24m, Q 23m, Ines 13m, Amari 7m

I was specifically talking about Ines and Amari. Ines definitely got more, Amari a little more. Not sure what Ice and Q’s average is. Great game for Ice also. Wish I could have seen it.

 

[HuskyNan]

I was specifically talking about Ines and Amari. Ines definitely got more, Amari a little more. Not sure what Ice and Q’s average is. Great game for Ice also. Wish I could have seen it.

It’s in the Replay section of the FoxSports app if you’re able to see games that way