Tag: UConn Huskies

Transfer portal: TaQuan Roberson officially joins UConn Huskies

Former Penn State QB Ta’Quan Roberson is officially welcomed by his new school out of the transfer portal

A few weeks after announcing his commitment to his new school, former Penn State quarterback Ta’Quan Roberson has officially been welcomed into his new home. Roberson announced his commitment to the Connecticut Huskies in late December, a couple of weeks after confirming he has entered the NCAA transfer portal. On Monday, UConn made the news official by announcing they had signed Roberson to be a part of the Huskies program.

Roberson will be eligible immediately for the Huskies, and he should have a good chance to land a key role in the offense under new UConn head coach Jim Mora.

Roberson is a former four-star recruit of Penn State’s in the Class of 2019, but he was never more than a backup option for established starter Sean Clifford, who announced he will return to Penn State for another season in 2022. Roberson was used as a backup for an injured Clifford in a road game at Iowa, and it did not go particularly well for the in-experienced backup. Roberson struggled to guide the Penn State offense against a feisty Iowa defense that had been racking up interceptions at an astonishing rate early in the season.

In a sense, it was a really tough spot to expect too much out of Roberson. When Clifford went down with an injury in a game later in the season against Rutgers, Penn State opted to go with Christian Veilleux as the first relief option, not Roberson.

Roberson entered his name in the NCAA transfer portal on December 13, which was to be expected given the situation with the quarterback situation in 2022 and beyond with Class of 2022 quarterback Drew Allar on board. UConn was among the first schools to show interest in Roberson, and he may have a chance to become a starter fairly quickly under Mora with the Huskies.

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Everything we know following Oregon’s 72-59 blowout win over No. 9 UConn

The Oregon women’s basketball team completes a historic weekend for Duck’s hoops with a 72-59 upset over No. 9 UConn.

This has been one heck of a weekend for Oregon hoops.

The Oregon women’s basketball team capped off an amazing few days with a 72-59 victory over No. 9 UConn in front of 9,439 fans inside Matthew Knight Arena.

Both men’s and women’s teams took down two Top 10 teams in the span of five days with the Duck men sweeping No. 3 UCLA and No. 5 USC with the women upsetting No. 7 Arizona and now the Huskies.

Oregon is finally playing like the pre-season Top 10 team it was billed to be now that the Ducks have a full roster. But nerves played a factor early on as UConn scored the first 10 points of the game. Once Oregon settled down, it was all Ducks with Te-Hina Paopao leading the way with 22 points and eight rebounds.

Transfer Portal: Former Penn State QB announces transfer destination

Former Penn State QB Ta’Quan Roberson has announced where he will transfer

A decision has been made on where former Penn State quarterback Ta’Quan Roberson will continue his college football career. Roberson announced on Tuesday he has committed to the University of Connecticut.

Roberson announced his commitment with a short message on his Twitter account accompanied by an edited photo of him in a UConn football uniform. Roberson will have three years of eligibility at his disposal with the Huskies, who are now being coached by former UCLA head coach Jim Mora after a coaching change this offseason for the struggling program.

Roberson is a former four-star recruit of Penn State’s in the Class of 2019, but he was never more than a backup option for established starter Sean Clifford, who announced he will return to Penn State for another season in 2022. Roberson was used as a backup for an injured Clifford in a road game at Iowa, and it did not go particularly well for the in-experienced backup. Roberson struggled to guide the Penn State offense against a feisty Iowa defense that had been racking up interceptions at an astonishing rate early in the season.

In a sense, it was a really tough spot to expect too much out of Roberson. When Clifford went down with an injury in a game later in the season against Rutgers, Penn State opted to go with Christian Veilleux as the first relief option, not Roberson.

Roberson entered his name in the NCAA transfer portal on December 13, which was to be expected given the situation with the quarterback situation in 2022 and beyond with Class of 2022 quarterback Drew Allar on board. UConn was among the first schools to show interest in Roberson, and he may have a chance to become a starter fairly quickly under Mora with the Huskies.

Roberson will be immediately eligible for UConn and he still has plenty of potential to be a fun player to watch.

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Without injured Paige Bueckers, here’s who is stepping up for UConn basketball

What we know so far about who UConn is without the reigning National Player of the Year.

Shortly after Paige Bueckers went down with a non-contact injury in the final minute of UConn’s Dec. 5 home game against Notre Dame while leading by 18 points, Geno Auriemma told reporters Bueckers was still in the game partly because “she’s a pain in the ass to have on the bench because all she does is complain about why she’s not playing.” But he also admitted, “I don’t like our team without her on the court.”

One week and two Bueckers-less games later, an ugly loss followed by an uplifting win, we’ve gotten a glimpse of who UConn is without its star player.

The Huskies’ 57-44 loss to Georgia Tech was the first time since 2006 that a UConn squad had scored fewer than 45 points in a game and the first time since 2012 that it had lost to an unranked opponent. It also dropped UConn to No. 7 in the AP poll this week, its lowest ranking since 2007.

After the loss, Auriemma told the media, “We’re disorganized as a group right now, from the coaching on down, everybody. There’s just no sense of [having] a plan of how we’re going to execute, how we’re going to get a bucket, who’s going to get it for us.”

RELATED: Paige Bueckers’ very rare knee injury, explained

Auriemma and his staff are no doubt hoping this marks their low point of the season, especially now that they are down to eight active players after two entered the transfer portal, and Azzi Fudd, Nika Mühl and Aubrey Griffin are out with their own respective injuries. All four injured players are expected to make full recoveries this season, with Bueckers’ return timeline being the longest. The sophomore is expected to miss eight weeks as she recovers from a successful surgery to repair an anterior tibial plateau fracture and a lateral meniscus tear.

(David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports)

The diminished squad followed up the Georgia Tech loss with a much-needed confidence boost when they beat UCLA 71-61 last Saturday. But its biggest challenges are on the horizon, the first of which comes Sunday against No. 6 Louisville’s strong defensive squad.

“I think the biggest thing that’s an issue is consistency. Just because we see them put it together at the end of the UCLA game, they’re going to have to try to do that coming off an exam week against a better team in Louisville,” says Alexa Philippou, who covers the program around the clock for Connecticut’s Hartford Courant.

With three other top-ten matchups on the calendar before Bueckers is expected back, the Huskies’ response to this identity crisis will be put to the test repeatedly. Here’s what we know so far about who UConn is without the reigning National Player of the Year.

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UConn’s Paige Bueckers avoids season-ending injury, but will miss extended time

Paige Bueckers seriously injured her left knee in UConn’s most recent win, but the damage won’t keep her out for the whole season.

Non-contact, lower extremity injuries are never fun. They come at random times, are unavoidable and leave athletes in somewhat of a confused and helpless state. Some of the most famous athletes have had their careers altered by such occasions; think Kobe’s Achilles, DeMarcus Cousins’ Achilles and Shaun Livingston’s knee. So we all collectively held our breath when No. 3 UConn Huskies guard Paige Bueckers went down, untouched, late in UConn’s 73-54 win over Notre Dame and writhed in pain.

Fortunately, we can breathe again. On Tuesday, UConn described Bueckers’ injury as a tibial plateau fracture that would require six to eight weeks of recovery time.

Considering the range of outcomes, two months isn’t the worst thing in the world. Bueckers avoids surgery and still has a chance to return this year in time for the postseason — barring any setbacks. Thinking optimistically, Bueckers underwent ankle surgery in May and it didn’t seem to have any negative impact on her performance this season (21.2 points, 6.2 assists, 5.5 rebounds per game). So, don’t expect to see a diminished version of the superstar once she fully recovers.

What’s likely out of the picture now, however, is an opportunity to collect the Naismith, AP Player of the Year or Wooden Awards; honors given to college basketball’s most outstanding individual players. Bueckers won all three awards last season and became the first freshman to ever take home any of the honors en route to the Final Four.

The Huskies could slip a bit in the polls as they move on without Bueckers for the time being. Additionally, their championship odds are listed at +200 but could fall at your preferred books as the season progresses. Such a drop might make for the perfect opportunity to buy the dip on UConn if you believe Bueckers will be back and in form for the madness that ensues in March and April.

Given the circumstances, it’s a solid news day for fans of the sport as well as Bueckers and her supporters.

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5 Big Ten men’s basketball teams earn AP Top 25 preseason ranking

Which Big Ten teams are ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll?

The dawning of a new era of Penn State basketball is nearly upon us as the Nittany Lions begin building a new identity this season under Micah Shrewsberry. On Monday, we got our first look at the kind of company Shreewsberry hopes Penn State will be a part of soon enough as the Associated Press released its preseason AP Top 25 for the upcoming men’s basketball season.

Last year’s preseason No. 1 team is once again sitting on top at the start of the season. The Gonzaga Bulldogs, after ending last season as the national runner-up to Baylor, received 55 out of 63 first-place votes to take the top spot in the AP Top 25 preseason poll, which was released on Monday morning. UCLA, whom Gonzaga defeated in the Final Four last season, received the remaining eight first-place votes to help secure the nation’s No. 2 ranking.

Five Big Ten teams appear in the preseason AP Top 25, starting with the Michigan Wolverines at No. 6. Michigan finished in first place in the Big Ten’s regular season last year and is once again a favorite to win the conference this season. But Purdue, who is ranked No. 7 in the preseason poll, is just behind the Wolverines to start the season.

Illinois, last season’s Big Ten conference tournament champion, is ranked No. 11 in the preseason AP Top 25. Ohio State (No. 17) and Maryland (No. 21) also appear in the preseason AP poll.

Other Big Ten teams receiving votes in the preseason poll include Michigan State, Indiana, and Rutgers.

NEXT: The full preseason AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll

Here is how the AP Top 25 men’s basketball preseason poll looks ahead of the 2021-2022 season.

  1. Gonzaga (55 first-place votes)
  2. UCLA (8)
  3. Kansas
  4. Villanova
  5. Texas
  6. Michigan
  7. Purdue
  8. Baylor
  9. Duke
  10. Kentukcy
  11. Illinois
  12. Memphis
  13. Oregon
  14. Alabama
  15. Houston
  16. Arkansas
  17. Ohio State
  18. Tennessee
  19. North Carolina
  20. Florida State
  21. Maryland
  22. Auburn
  23. St. Bonaventure
  24. UConn
  25. Virginia

Others receiving votes:
Michigan State 87, Indiana 41, USC 30, Arizona 26, Virginia Tech 25, Oklahoma State 25, Xavier 22, Texas Tech 17, Richmond 13, Rutgers 11, Colorado State 11, LSU 7, Belmont 7, San Diego State 5, St. John’s 5, Mississippi State 5, Syracuse 5, Drake 4, Colorado 4, BYU 3, Notre Dame 3, Louisville 3

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UConn finally won its first game since 2019, and college football fans rejoiced

UCONN DID IT.

UConn almost blew it. It almost extended its losing streak to 12 games. Almost.

But our Sickos Game of the Week did not disappoint, and for the first time since 2019 and after more than 700 days, UConn won a game.

The once-winless Huskies had a 21-0 lead early in the third quarter Saturday against Yale, but thanks to a field goal and a couple touchdowns from the Bulldogs, they were right back in it. Late in the fourth quarter, Yale quarterback Nolan Grooms went deep to Chase Nenad, who bolted to the end zone for a 60-yard touchdown. But the Bulldogs missed the extra point and still trailed UConn, 20-15, with 4:30 left in the game.

After the Huskies were forced to punt on the next drive and their final possession of the game, it looked like any fans’ hopes of this losing streak ending were about to disappear. But the Huskies got in their own way with a few penalties once they got the ball back, including on what was almost the last play of the game.

With no time left on the clock, Yale dealt itself an illegal substitution penalty and replayed an untimed down — a Hail Mary attempt for the win. But Grooms’ final pass was intercepted in the end zone, and UConn football finally became a winner again.

And college football fans everywhere celebrated the victory, as UConn is no longer winless in 2021. After not playing in the 2020 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, its last win goes back to October 26, 2019 against UMass.

Well done, Huskies. You finally did it!

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Fresno State opens season with strip-sack TD against UConn

Fresno State makes it look like UConn is in for another miserable season

If you thought UConn visiting Fresno State on Saturday seemed like a dog of a rivalry, you aren’t wrong.

The Huskies and Bulldogs got together in Northern California and UConn continues to see its football program roll in reverse. The Huskies have gone 9-39 over their last four seasons, including 3-21 combined in 2019 and ’20.

The first touchdown of the season for Fresno State comes on a strip-sack of Jack Zergiotis with the return for six points by Arron Mosby.

And adding insult to season-opening embarrassment:

Somehow, the touchdown failed to register. But it counted.

UConn looked great without Paige Bueckers’ best and that’s a scary sight for the rest of college basketball

They’re too good.

UConn going up against Iowa will easily go down as one of the most highly anticipated games of the college basketball season from both the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments.

There aren’t bigger stars out there than UConn’s Paige Bueckers and Iowa’s Caitlin Clark. These are the two best college basketball players in the country. Both freshman. Going at it.

This was supposed to be a matchup for the ages. And, while it did live up to the hype, it didn’t exactly happen the way we expected it to.

The Huskies dominated the Hawkeyes in their 92-72 win to get to the Elite 8. The wildest part is they didn’t really need Paige Bueckers to go off to do it.

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UConn’s James Bouknight had an insane putback dunk in first game back from injury

Uconn Huskies sophomore James Bouknight returned from injury on Feb. 16 and he made it clear that he hadn’t lost a step during his absence.

UConn Huskies sophomore James Bouknight returned from injury tonight and made it clear that he hadn’t lost a step during his absence.

Bouknight, a 6-foot-5 guard who had scored 40 points against Creighton on Dec. 20, is an explosive scorer who has shown insane vertical pop during his collegiate career thus far. We projected him as the No. 15 overall pick in our most recent 2021 NBA Mock Draft.

While he had missed more than a month of action due to injury he showed everyone Tuesday night against Providence that there was very little to be concerned about in his recovery.

Early in the first half senior forward Tyler Polley attempted a three-pointer that missed off the iron. The shot missed but then Bouknight did this:

Bouknight, who was aligned near the left wing on the perimeter, was able to quickly notice that the shot was not going to land. So he sprinted to the rack, beating Providence wing A.J. Reeves by foot, and then he took flight.

He displayed comical athleticism, soaring from the restricted area to then throw down an absurdly satisfying putback slam. He didn’t seem anywhere near striking distance to complete this sequence, but Bouknight just showed defenders that they have to box him out as far back as the 3-point line if they want to stop him.

The 20-year-old, who was suffering from bone spurs, underwent surgery on his left elbow on Jan. 12. He was averaging 20.3 points per game before he was sidelined.

If he keeps completing highlights like these, Bouknight could very well become a first-round pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. But until then, however, college basketball fans have a few more dunks to look forward to from the UConn star.

Welcome back, James Bouknight. We’ve missed you.

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