Head Coach of UConn Offers Serious Remarks After Defeat by Tennessee Volunteers

A big time matchup took place on the basketball court Thursday night as No. 5 UConn took on No. 19 Tennessee. The Huskies were 21-2 coming into the matchup and Tennessee was 16-5. It was the Volunteers though that came out on top as they defeated UConn by a final score of 80-76.

Four out of five starters for the Volunteers scored double digits. Zee Spearman led the way with 16 points, followed by Smara Spencer with 14, Jewel Spear had 11 and Talaysia Cooper had 11. Tennessee outrebounded the Huskies 46-34 and found a way to win despite losing the turnover battle 19 to 12. Sarah Strong was the leading scorer for UConn as she finished with 18 points. Star UConn player Paige Bueckers finished with 14 points.

When UConn head coach Geno Auriemma was asked about the team’s loss Thursday night, he was very to the point about his player’s performances.

“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.

Auriemma went on to say that he feels like his players are ‘passing things up’. One thing that is for sure is the Huskies will have to figure some things out quickly as they have a matchup against No. 2 South Carolina coming up on their schedule. For Tennessee, it’s games against No. 6 LSU on the road, Auburn at home, Ole Miss at home and No. 23 Alabama at home coming up.