UConn, Tennessee women's basketball heading in opposite directions after top-10 clash

Safe to say not even Connecticut Huskies fans saw that coming. Wished for it, sure. But expected? Doubtful.

The Huskies earned their best and highest-quality win of the difficult 2021-22 season on Sunday with a 75-56 victory against Tennessee in a top-10 showdown aired nationally on FOX. It's big for Connecticut, and yet another blow for a Lady Vols squad that has fallen precipitously since being revealed as a No. 1 seed for the tournament.

This is a Connecticut team still without PaigeBueckers, slogging through injuries and COVID-19 protocols, coming off a game without their head coach and then, that morning, learning leading scorer Caroline Ducharme would not play. The decks were stacked against them, as they say.

It was Azzi Fudd who stepped up in her first collegiate start, shooting herself into the expectations fans had built for the No. 1 recruit. Fudd played only her eighth game, and fourth since returning 11 days ago, after a foot injury kept her out for 11 contests.

The freshman hit a 3-pointer on UConn's first possession and took advantage of a lagging defense to keep hitting them. Fudd made seven of her nine 3-point attempts (77.8%) and was 2-of-7 from 2-point range for a team-best 25 points. She had four rebounds, four assists, one block and one steal.

It was a massive win for their NCAA resume — the conference schedule they usually dominate has featured closer contests than usual — and a confidence booster for this group of players. If the initial timeline stands, Bueckers is close to coming back. Eight weeks out after surgery is Tuesday. Her father cast concerns about that a few weeks ago. Whether she returns soon or not, UConn (15-4, 9-0 Big East) appears back in business.

Tennessee falling as season speeds down

Tennessee (19-4, 8-2 SEC) is not, however. Jordan Horston led all scorers with 26 points on 8-for-19 shooting and went 10-for-11 from the free-throw line. But only Rae Burrell (11 points) joined her in the double-digits and the team collectively shot 28.8%, including 11.1% in the determining third quarter.

They've lost three of four, starting with the 71-61 defeat to unranked Auburn (9-12, 1-9 SEC) the night the NCAA selection committee gave Tennessee the final No. 1 seed. That's ancient history. Four days later, the Lady Vols escaped unranked Arkansas (14-8, 4-5 SEC) by three points. On Thursday night, it was a 25-point loss to unranked Florida (17-6, 7-3 SEC).

Head coach Kellie Harper said after the UConn loss the team still hasn't fully recovered from forward Keyen Green's ACL tear on Jan. 23.

"We've got to be able to find confidence in what we're doing," she told reporters. "That's been the biggest drop-off for us in the last two weeks."

It won't be easier since Missouri, the only team to defeat season-long No. 1 South Carolina, is up on Thursday. They're going to need to put it together, not for a No. 1 seed but for an SEC tournament that is shaping up to be even more competitive than years past, if that's even possible. Momentum is everything, and the Lady Vols lost it.

Florida keeps boosting its resume

The SEC tournament might be tougher than ever in part because of Florida's stay atop the standings that's pushed them to No. 19 in the nation. The Gators underwent a surprise coaching change in July and were picked to finish 11th of 14 teams in the conference's preseason vote of the SEC coaches.

Instead, they're currently third behind South Carolina and Tennessee. There are six games left and the team has its most overall wins (17) and SEC wins (seven) since 2015-16. Their last five contests have been against ranked opponents and the only loss in that stretch is by 12 to South Carolina. The stretch includes Kentucky (+25), LSU (+1), Tennessee (+25) and Georgia (+3).

ESPN analyst Andraya Carter sang interim head coach Kelly Rae Finley's praises on the postgame show on SEC Network, as she should. There was concern about promoting Finley following the abuse allegations against former head coach Cam Newbauer. He resigned in July, citing personal reasons a month after he signed a contract through 2025, and abuse allegations were reported by the Florida Alligator in September.

Some former players alleged Finley swept his conduct under the rug. The same report alleges Newbauer also spoke over Finley, "and treated her like she had no idea what she was talking about." Some assistants "cried because of the way Newbauer spoke to them." Both things point toward a culture of abuse initiated by a leader and permeating every person below him. It is no wonder an assistant would feel they must keep quiet.

Current rostered players stood up for their coach in the team's first media availability. And they've played for her throughout the season. Finley's smile and jumps of celebration with her team after each of those upsets has the power to elicit beams from even non-Gator fans watching from home. The players show it, too. Pull the interim tag off and give Finley the path to keep building the program.

Caitlin Clark's lastest bonkers outing

Iowa sophomore Caitlin Clark scored 46 points on 14-of-29 field goals (6-of-13 3s) with 10 assists and four rebounds in a 98-90 loss to No. 6 Michigan on Sunday. She played all 40 minutes.

She is one of only two players in the last 15 years of NBA, WNBA and Division I basketball action to have at last 45 points and 10 assists while playing the entire game. The other is Kevin Durant in the 2021 playoffs, per Stats Perform.

It's a scoring record for a women's player at Crisler Center, and gives Clark arena records in three places (Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Pinnacle Bank Arena in Nebraska).

The Clark show continues when Iowa (15-6, 9-3 Big Ten) hosts Minnesota (11-13, 4-8 Big Ten) on Wednesday. The Hawkeyes won, 105-49, in their first meeting and Clark had her second consecutive 30-point triple-double.

UNC, Louisville show out in ACC

In ACC action, North Carolina and Louisville defended their rankings on Sunday with dominant performances. And Florida State pulled a historic upset on Notre Dame.

The Tar Heels (18-4, 8-4 ACC) throttled Miami (12-9, 5-6) 85-35. It was a quick 28-2 start in the first quarter that ballooned to 53-13 at the half. It was the second game in a row they kept an opponent to single digits in the first quarter, and ninth time overall.

Louisville, which has played its way into that final No. 1 tournament seed, hit the century mark, 100-64, against Syracuse (9-12, 2-9 ACC). Former Orange wing Emily Engstler put up another double-double with 11 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and four blocks. Liz Dixon scored 18 on an 8-for-8 day for the Cardinals (21-2, 11-1 ACC).

No. 20 Notre Dame (18-5, 9-3 ACC) didn't have the same success. The Fighting Irish lost to Florida State, 70-65, in the Seminoles' first win against the school in program history. They've met 12 times.

Notre Dame played with a short bench and was led by Olivia Miles' 17 points. Maya Dodson had 15 points and 10 rebounds. Four players reached double-digits for Florida State (11-10, 5-6 ACC), led by 14 points and eight rebounds from Valencia Myers.

Upsets of the week

As always, for these purposes an upset is a lower or non-ranked team defeating a higher-ranked team. Rankings are as of the game, with Associated Press poll movement in parentheses.

• No. 5 Indiana 50, No. 6 Michigan 65 (Indiana down 2; Michigan up 2)

• No. 21 Iowa 88, No. 23 Ohio State 92 (Iowa down 4; Ohio State up 2)

• No. 3 N.C. State 66, No. 20 Notre Dame 69 (NC St. down 2; Notre Dame up 2)

• No. 9 Baylor 77, No. 18 Oklahoma 78 (Baylor down 1; Oklahoma up 6)

• No. 7 Tennessee 59, Florida 84 (Tennessee down 6; Florida to No. 19)

• No. 16 BYU 64, Portland 75 (BYU down 4)

• No. 7 Tennessee 56, No. 10 UConn 75 (Tennessee down 6; UConn up 2)

• No. 14 Georgia 51, Florida 54 (Georgia down 3; Florida to No. 19)

• No. 19 Oregon 49, Arizona State 55 (Oregon down 5)

• No. 20 Notre Dame 65, Florida State 70 (Notre Dame up 2)

What to watch on TV this week

Wednesday

Kansas State (17-6, 7-4 Big 12) at No. 10 Baylor (17-5, 7-3 Big 12), 8 p.m. ET on Big 12/ESPN+

Thursday

Missouri (16-7, 5-5 SEC) at No. 13 Tennessee (19-4, 8-2 SEC), 6:30 p.m. ET on SECN

No. 1 South Carolina (21-1, 9-1 SEC) at Kentucky (9-10, 2-7 SEC), 7 p.m. ET on ESPN

No. 17 Georgia (17-5, 6-4 SEC) at No. 14 LSU (18-4, 6-3 SEC), 8:30 p.m. ET on SECN

Friday

DePaul (19-6, 11-3 Big East) at No. 8 UConn (15-4, 9-0 Big East), 7 p.m. ET on SNY

Saturday

No. 12 Oklahoma (20-3, 9-2 Big 12) at No. 16 Texas (15-6, 5-5 Big 12), 8 p.m. ET on Longhorn Network

Sunday

No. 1 South Carolina (21-1, 9-1 SEC) at No. 17 Georgia (17-5, 6-4 SEC), noon ET on ESPN2

No. 18 Notre Dame (18-5, 9-3 ACC) at No. 3 Louisville (21-2, 11-1 ACC), 2 p.m. ET on ESPN

Monday

No. 15 Maryland (17-6, 9-3 Big Ten) at No. 25 Iowa (15-6, 9-3 Big Ten), 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2