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The Tina Charles Show (UNC @ UCONN)

At half time of the University of Connecticut's 88-47 win over the University of North Carolina, I texted a friend, "Tina Charles is leading by 1."

That pretty much sums up the first half, with UConn leading 56-24 at the break. 

UConn center Tina Charles scored all 25 of her points in the first half and UNC just did not have an answer to her, on either end of the court.  She slipped behind their defence for an uncontested layup, or fought two or three defenders and still got the layup, or drew the foul.

The game started off competitively – for the first four minutes or so -- and then the Huskies were off!

One thing when I watch UConn play is that I don't actually look at the score as often as perhaps I should, so it's not unusual for me to look up and suddenly see that UConn are leading by 16 points as I did today about half way through the first half. After falling behind, 7-10, the Huskies then went on a 23-0 run.  The Tar Heels were only able to add another 14 points for the rest of the half, even as UConn answered with another 26 of their own.

I don't think I have the words to fully do justice to UConn's defence.  It's just incredible.  I mean, I love watching the Huskies on the offense, but just the sheer intensity that they have every time the opponent has the ball is amazing. 

Gampel Pavilion has stats boards, which I love, and today I was watching UNC's field goal shooting percentage just keep dropping.  It didn't quite make it into the teens, but they were shooting just 20% from the floor at one point.  And that doesn't even take into account the steals that get made or the turnovers forced before they can even get a shot off!

One thing that struck me was the number of fouls committed tonight, particularly by the Tar Heels. 

UConn was in the bonus less than half way through the first half which ended with 12 fouls on UNC and they then added another 10 in the second.  There were Huskies hitting the ground left, right and centre!  UNC ended up with one player fouling out, and a couple had four apiece.  Cincinnati was called for 16 in the last game on Thursday, and I can't help but wonder if this is some kind of conspiracy – perhaps the thinking is that if every team consistently batters the UConn players then maybe the next team a better chance against them?

Speaking of Huskies slamming to the ground, there was one heart stopping moment when center Kaili McLaren was on the floor and didn't get up again straight away.  Thankfully she seemed okay, and was able to get up and off the court unaided, although she didn't return to the game.  And God forgive me, but when I realized that it was McLaren down and not one of the starters, I was a little relieved. 

A starter went down in the Cincinnati game: guard Tiffany Hayes sprained her ankle on Thursday, not that you could tell from watching her sprint up and down the court and knocking in 15 points!  She even ended up playing with one shoe for a good couple of minutes after one scuffle and there were no whistles, but she wasn't going to stop playing - UConn outplays you even with just one shoe on!  She also repeatedly hit the deck tonight, but that's nothing new.  If the number of times a player was knocked to the floor was counted as a stat, I think she'd be leading the nation!

It wasn't all sunshine for the Huskies.  The 3-pointers still aren't falling particularly regularly; there were none in the first half, and just three in the second half.  (Technically one fell in the first half, but the basket, scored by number three didn't count with about three minutes left in the second half, due to a three second violation.) Their free throws were a little off tonight. There were some sloppy passes, some that were a little too exuberant (including one which Lorin Dixon was just not tall enough to catch!), but that's just nitpicking! And with a 41 point win, it probably doesn't matter too much in the big picture!

For those interested, this win means that UConn has matched the 54 consecutive victories streak set by Louisiana Tech. 

The Huskies play at Marquette next Wednesday and chances are, they'll soon have the second longest winning streak; second, of course, only to the 70 set by their own program between 2001 and 2003.  Is that streak going to be broken?  I don't want to jinx anything, so... ask me again when it's time for the Big East tournament!  (But my Magic 8-Ball says "Outlook good.")

 

 

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