No. 5 UConn has two more games until the Big East Tournament, and it could outright win the conference regular-season title with a win against Creighton on Thursday. As the Huskies get ready to enter the postseason, there is no better time to evaluate whether they have what it takes to make another deep run in March.
UConn has made 15 Final Fours in the last 16 years, but nothing is guaranteed in March and the Huskies have not won a national championship since 2016. It’s also worth noting the Huskies struggle with inconsistency in the frontcourt, and overall the team has had a few lackluster performances.
UConn, Paige Bueckers vs. Creighton: Where to watch, tip time, TV channel, live stream for Big East clash
Isabel Gonzalez
UConn, Paige Bueckers vs. Creighton: Where to watch, tip time, TV channel, live stream for Big East clash
That being said, Geno Auriemma’s team played to its elite potential on both sides of the court in the 87-58 win against reigning national champion South Carolina on Feb. 16. If that was a preview of what we can expect in the NCAA Tournament, then in the words of CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein: “buy stock now.”
- Buy or sell: Is Sarah Strong the Freshman of the Year?
Buy. Since the beginning of the season, the freshman forward — who ranked as the No. 1 recruit in her class — has established herself as a key part of the roster with her versatility and productivity. Strong is the team’s second-leading scorer behind Paige Bueckers with 15.9 points per game while shooting an efficient 57.4% from the field. She also leads the team in rebounds, steals and blocks.
Strong’s biggest competition is Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes. Earlier this month, Blakes set a new NCAA freshman record with 55 points in the Commodores’ 98-88 win over Auburn. That was her second 50+ point game this season, as she also dropped 53 against Florida.
Blakes is making history, but if we take into consideration how players have impacted their team in wins and losses, Strong comes out ahead. Vanderbilt made the AP Top 25 for the first time in 11 years late January, but the Commodores dropped out of the rankings after only two weeks while struggling with SEC competition. They have lost five out of six games in February.
- Buy or sell: Is the UConn frontcourt reliable?
Hold. This might seem like a cop-out answer, but this is an area in which the Huskies have shown potential but haven’t been consistent the whole season.
Strong is a solid player, but overall the frontcourt lacks experience and has been inconsistent. Ice Brady, who is currently out with a shoulder injury, is the only one who came into the season having played real college basketball minutes as a redshirt sophomore.
Although Brady was a starter at the beginning of the season, Auriemma shook things up in late December and gave redshirt freshman Jana El Alfy her debut in the starting lineup.
After UConn’s 72-70 loss to USC in December, Auriemma talked about the importance of post players stepping up to take pressure off the guards. El Alfy has had some solid performances, including a 17-point, 11-rebound outing against Boston University. She was also a spark for the Huskies with much-needed aggressive post play early in the South Carolina game.
The Huskies were able to beat the Gamecocks by being the aggressors and winning the rebounding battle 48-29. They also tied South Carolina 36-36 in the paint, an area Dawn Staley’s team was expected to have the edge.
- Buy or sell: Is Paige Bueckers the national Player of the Year?
Sell. This one is in part because of the competition she is facing. The top candidates right now are Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, USC’s JuJu Watkins and UCLA’s Lauren Betts.
It is also tricky to figure out how to evaluate a player like Bueckers. The 6-foot guard is in the top 40 in the nation in scoring with 18.7 points per game while shooting 53.3% from the field. Bueckers also creates opportunities for her teammates and leads the nation in assist to turnover ratio. In addition, Bueckers’ game became more complete last year when she leveled up her defense.
Bueckers is a very impactful player on both sides of the court and her leadership is essential to the Huskies. However, sometimes she is not aggressive or selfish enough for the results to show up on the box score. That is not necessarily a bad thing because she does make her teammates better and is a key part of why the Huskies have the best scoring margin in the country.
Bueckers doesn’t always take all the shots she could, and is actually No. 117 nationally in shot attempts this season. Meanwhile, guards like Watkins and Hidalgo are in the top 15. Bueckers’ teamwork does help the Huskies, but as Auriemma himself put it, the team is better when she is more aggressive.
- Buy or sell: Will Azzi Fudd keep the momentum going?
Buy. It is no secret Fudd is one of the top-three key players for UConn, and the most exciting part is it feels we haven’t even seen her full potential yet.
Like Bueckers, Fudd’s career has been disrupted by injuries. When Bueckers was out with a torn ACL two seasons ago, Auriemma said Fudd was “far and away, 100% the best player on the floor.” And then Fudd got injured too, so we missed out.
Fudd played 15 games in 2022-23 and just two the following season because of a torn ACL. She made her return this season and has recently been playing some of her best basketball.
Fudd scored a career-high 34 points against St. John’s on Feb. 12, and then had a 28-point performance against South Carolina. She registered a combined 14 3-pointers in those two games.
Fun fact: Bueckers saw Fudd’s potential before she even got to UConn and made a highlight tape of her passes to help recruit her.