Azzi Fudd Explains UConn’s Sloppiness After Strong Start
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The Huskies are undefeated this season. However, their last match, which ended in a 90–53 win over the Providence Friars, felt disconnected. With two key players sidelined, the margin was okay, but the UConn standard was slightly troubled.
UConn controlled the game early with a 21–0 burst and a 30–7 first quarter. Providence hit two of its first three shots, then missed 11 of its next 12. Meanwhile, the Huskies shot 78.6 percent in the opening frame and made six triples. It was all good until it started to slip. And that’s what Azzi Fudd focused on post-game.
Without junior guard KK Arnold and sophomore forward Ayanna Patterson available, the Huskies felt the strain.
“Our communication defense. I think our defense kind of, I didn’t think it was terrible in the second quarter, but I think just things got sloppy. I think we kind of felt not having KK out there. Um, and it was just the little things. I feel like it just, yeah, it got sloppy. The communication, the rotations, not finishing passes, not coming to passes, just little things like that,” said Fudd.
After shooting nearly 79 percent in the first quarter, UConn fell to 43.8 percent in the second and 35.3 percent in the third. The Huskies still finished at 55 percent overall and made 24 assists in their 13th straight game with 20-plus; however, it still lacked the same clarity.
In fact, Geno Auriemma also went on to add to Fudd's statement. "And the third part was, um, like there comes a time, I think, human nature, where you just, I don't know which one it is, which comes first, like where you get stupid because you're lazy or because you're lazy, you just get stupid," said Auriemma.
They also turned the ball over 21 times, a season-high for the Huskies. However, it is not all bad. Fudd led with 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting, while Sarah Strong added 17. The bench added 33 points.
The defense made 16 steals and five blocks. UConn has now won 30 straight games, 52 in a row against Big East opponents, and 38 consecutive meetings with Providence. Fudd and Strong didn’t even play the fourth quarter, yet the Huskies had a win.
What’s Next for UConn?
Up next is a matchup with the Seton Hall Pirates, a series UConn has owned for decades. The Huskies are 55–1 all-time against Seton Hall, with a 41-game winning streak in the series, including a 91–49 road win in the most recent meeting.
After Seton Hall, the Huskies face a run that includes St. John’s, Creighton on the road, Villanova, Notre Dame, Georgetown away, another Seton Hall trip, Xavier, and a marquee matchup with Tennessee.
-fd44250df32912986cc6690f0b8bfa32.png "Shivani Menon")
Shivani Menon is a sports journalist with a background in Mass Communication and a passion for storytelling. She has written for EssentiallySports, College Sports Network, and PFSN, covering Olympic sports like track and field, gymnastics, and alpine skiing, as well as college football, basketball, March Madness, and the NBL Draft. When she's not reporting, she's either on the road chasing sunsets or getting lost in the rhythms of electronic soundscapes.