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Geno Auriemma Gets Blunt About Paige Bueckers' Big Game Struggles After UConn Loss

UConn Huskies coach Geno Auriemma spoke about Paige Bueckers struggling in another big game after their upset loss to Tennessee.
Grant Young|
Jan 22, 2025; Storrs, Connecticut, USA; UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma watches from the sideline as they take on the Villanova Wildcats at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images
Jan 22, 2025; Storrs, Connecticut, USA; UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma watches from the sideline as they take on the Villanova Wildcats at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images | David Butler II-Imagn Images

The UConn Huskies women's basketball team fell to 21-3 in the 2024-25 NCAA season on February 6, as they were beaten by the Tennessee Volunteers by a score of 80-76.

Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma is not used to losing against Tennessee, as this marked his first loss against them since 2007, back when the legendary Pat Summitt was still the Volunteers' head coach.

UConn star guard Paige Bueckers struggled from the field, as she finished the game with 14 points on 5-16 shooting while also adding 8 assists and 4 rebounds.

Given that Bueckers entered what's (presumably) her final college season as one of the favorites to win AP National Player of the Year, her averaging 19 points per game this season so far leaves some to be desired in the eyes of many. And when speaking with the media after the game, Auriemma got honest about Bueckers' performance in this upset defeat.

"The bottom line is we have some players on our team that are supposed to be our best players and they've got to play better. That's all there is to it," Auriemma said, per the VolReport YouTube channel.

When asked about Bueckers' struggles in big games thus far this season directly, he said, "I don't know. I mean, it's a real kind of conundrum, you know? Paige wants the ball in her hands all the time, then when they trap her, she doesn't want the ball in her hands. So then we try to get her moving from one thing to another, moving without the ball, and it's so-so.

"We've got to come to some sort of definitive thing here, how we're gonna handle it," he continued. "But right now, it's not the winning edge for sure.

"And passing up stuff, you know? Like...," Auriemma said before trailing off and sighing.

UConn has until their February 9 game against Providence to iron out any offensive issues. But their real test will arrive on February 16, when they take on South Carolina.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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