Uconn’s Bueckers out 6-8 weeks
Paige Bueckers, the Connecticut sophomore who is the reigning national player of the year in women’s college basketball, is expected to miss the next six to eight weeks with a tibial plateau fracture, a left knee injury she suffered Sunday.
Bueckers went down with a noncontact injury with 38 seconds left in the Huskies’ 73-54 victory over Notre Dame, silencing the crowd at Gampel Pavilion as she grabbed her knee in apparent pain. Teammates Amari Deberry and Evina Westbrook helped her from the court.
“Obviously, we’re all extremely disappointed for Paige and that she suffered this injury,” oach Geno Auriemma said in a statement released Tuesday. “It would be really hard to describe how much basketball means to Paige and how much her teammates mean to her. Not being able to do the thing that she loves to do, to be there for her teammates, is really difficult for her. We’ve had players get injured in the past and my philosophy here is, I’m not interested in how fast we can get someone back; I’m interested in what’s best for them long term. Every decision made will prioritize what’s best for Paige and her career. Everyone involved with this program will be there to support Paige through her healing process.”
TEXAS SOUTHERN 69 NO. 20 FLORIDA 54
Johnny Jones got a wet welcome in the visiting locker room at the O’connell Center. It was a celebration
decades in the making.
Previously winless Texas Southern stunned No. 20 Florida behind PJ Henry’s 16 points and Joirdon Karl Nicholas’ perfect shooting performance.
Texas Southern (1-7) became the first Southwestern Athletic Conference team to beat a ranked Southeastern Conference program in the Associated Press poll era dating to 1936, according to ESPN Stats & Info. Ranked SEC teams had been 51-0 against SWAC opponents.
“We were thoroughly
outplayed, outcoached, out-everything,” Florida coach Mike White said.
Jones got all the accolades. The former LSU coach who took Texas Southern to the NCAA Tournament last season was doused as he stepped into the locker room to celebrate with his team. His shirt and pants were still soaking wet during postgame interviews.
“Water bottles, everything we could throw at him,“Nicholas said.
Texas Southern had lost six straight against ranked opponents. The program’s last win against a Top 25 team came against thenno. 18 Oregon on Nov. 26, 2018.
The Tigers were 23½point underdogs in Gainesville. That was no surprise given they were coming off a 27-point loss at Louisiana Tech and catching a Florida team trying to rebound from its first loss.
But the Gators (6-2), who had been ranked as high as 14th a week ago, had no answer for Texas Southern’s talent, tenacity and athleticism.
“We just did a terrible job in every aspect,“Florida big man Colin Castleton said. “Rebounding, backdoor cuts, loose balls. Everything we did bad the coaches told us to focus on.”
The Tigers continuously beat Florida’s press despite 22 turnovers and got open looks everywhere. They made most of the them, shooting 54.4 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from 3-point range. They also outrebounded Florida 46-23 and outscored the Gators 42-26 in the paint.
“It’s huge for the program and our school at the end of the day because we know how difficult it is,“Jones said. “When you have setbacks like we’ve had, you have an opportunity to either splinter or come together. These guys have done a tremendous job of staying the course and coming together.”
NO. 14 HOUSTON 77 ALCORN STATE 45
Tramon Mark scored 18 points off the bench, Marcus Sasser had 17 points and a career-high six steals as the Cougars defeated the visiting Braves.