Geno Auriemma knows Paige Bueckers and Sarah Strong can carry UConn to the top in March
Strong was unstoppable in the Huskies' rout of Villanova, and though Bueckers suffered an injury, it looks like it won't be too serious.
Geno Auriemma is used to all this by now: the star players, the big crowds cheering on Connecticut at road games, the continuing dominance of the Big East.
But even the winningest coach in college basketball history — men or women, any division — occasionally sees things that are if not new, then at least different.
And this Huskies team, as Villanova saw firsthand Sunday, might be different.
It’s not just Paige Bueckers, the superstar guard charging through her final college season. It’s fellow guard Azzi Fudd finally being healthy after missing nearly two full seasons with knee injuries. It’s Princeton transfer Kaitlyn Chen leading the Huskies in assists per game, and KK Arnold giving further backcourt depth.
Above all (such as anyone at UConn can be above all), it’s the Norristown-bred Auriemma’s latest new sensation. Sarah Strong is the nation’s best freshman, and she showed it Sunday: 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting, five rebounds, and four assists in an 83-52 win for the seventh-ranked Huskies.
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“No matter what Sarah does out there, it doesn’t surprise me — and I keep saying she doesn’t do enough,” Auriemma said afterward. She could probably get 40 [points] every night if she wanted to, but that’s not who she is. And at the same time, the more time she has the ball in her hands, the more effective we are, because you can’t guard her by yourself.”
He particularly marveled at Strong’s “composure that she has, the way the game plays so slow for her — that usually doesn’t come until much later in your career.”
Then he went on to praise just about every other aspect of her game, as observers across the country have done all season.
“All the things that you need to be a terrific basketball player, she has those,” Auriemma said. “And there are a lot of kids that have those same things, but they don’t have the personality and the maturity to bring them all together. … I would like to think that if anything great is going to happen to this team, it’s going to be because she’s at the forefront of it.”
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The score was 9-9 for a moment early, and the Villanova portion of the sellout crowd at Finneran Pavilion was pleased. But once Bueckers got going, that was that. She tallied 15 points, nine assists, three rebounds, and three steals before an awkward collision with Villanova’s Jasmine Bascoe late in the third quarter left her sprawled in pain.
After a few nervous moments — with the arena so silent that Villanova’s radio broadcaster could be heard halfway across the arena — Bueckers walked off under her own power, and soon returned to the bench with an ice pack on her left knee. The score was 65-37 at that point, and Auriemma acknowledged that if she hadn’t gotten hurt, her day would have been done soon anyway.
Then again, it was easier to say that once he got a “not the worst thing” diagnosis.
“That’s great news, considering how awkward it was,” Auriemma said. “You can’t predict some of this stuff, and she feels, I’m sure, like, anybody else would. … The news, from what you can tell, was not lousy, let’s put it that way.”
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UConn is now 13-2 (4-0 Big East), and the losses were to fellow powers: Hannah Hidalgo’s No. 3-ranked Notre Dame and JuJu Watkins’ No. 4 Southern Cal. There should be a lot more wins the rest of the way, with a Jan. 25 game at Creighton the only nominal test left on the board in conference play.
The big games to come are nonconference contests, Feb. 6 at old rival Tennessee (ranked No. 15 these days) and Feb. 16 at two-time reigning national champion South Carolina.
Dawn Staley’s No. 2-ranked Gamecocks are a serious contender to win a third straight title. Undefeated No. 1 UCLA is also in the top tier, along with Notre Dame, USC, No. 5 Texas, and No. 6 Louisiana State.
Villanova, meanwhile, will have opportunities to match or beat its preseason projection as the sixth-best team in the Big East. The Wildcats (7-8, 1-2) had some good nonconference wins, especially over Columbia and St. Joseph’s, but a recent home loss to Seton Hall on a buzzer-beater left a sour taste.
This game was another lesson.
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“Feeling that pressure from one of the top teams, it’s got to give you at least the confidence for the players to know we’ve seen this,” coach Denise Dillon said. “But we’ve got to flip the switch to take advantage, as opposed to falling to that pressure.”
It didn’t help Sunday that Bascoe hit just one of her first 10 shots in her first game against UConn’s pressure. She kept firing, though, and ended up with 12 points.
“Some of them might be forced, and that’s on me to know that wasn’t a good shot for my perspective,” Bascoe said. “But you know, a part of our team is all of us getting shots, getting touches, so just keep shooting and get my rhythm back. I feel like in the second half, it came to me, but it wouldn’t have if I wasn’t shooting those shots in the first half.”
That’s the right answer for a freshman, or any player.
» READ MORE: Villanova’s Jasmine Bascoe is having an impressive freshman season. She draws inspiration from a Wildcats legend.
Whether or not we see Villanova on a big stage in March, we certainly will see UConn. Auriemma knows it, even as he believes there’s work to do before then.
“I don’t even know if I’m exactly sure of what this team at its best truly is, because there’s been so few times that we’ve all been together and all playing at a real high level,” Auriemma said. “Right now, we have two teams: We have the team that got down 18 against USC, and got down almost the same against Notre Dame, and then came back and had a chance to win both of those games. So, just got to find out how do we get rid of that one team and keep the second team.”
The answer might not be clear until Bueckers’ status is. But if she’s healthy come March, the Huskies will have the talent to send her off to the pros with a title.
“Today, most of the lineups looked pretty good,” Auriemma said. “Some days, like last week, they do not. But today — must be the water and the box of soft pretzels in the locker room. I think that might have had something to do with it.”
This season’s Final Four is in Tampa, a city long renowned for its Philly expats. The many Wawas down there ought to be on notice.