NCAA Tournament - UConn crushes Stetson, sets up date with Northwestern
Jason Fitz, Danny Green, and Krysten Peek analyze the Huskies' 91-52 victory over the Hatters, highlighting why UConn is one of the top teams in this year's tournament.
Video Transcript
JASON FITZ: Connecticut beats Stetson 91-52, meaning the defending national champions and top overall seed. Breaking news, this is a really good team.
We're going to break it down for you-- Krysten Peek, Danny Green, I'm Jason Fitz, on "Yahoo Sports."
Danny, just how good is UConn?
DANNY GREEN: They're really good. And I think, from the start, they made a statement today. And this is the only team that really scares me in the tournament for my boys. Some teams make me nervous, but this group, they let it be known that they're head and shoulders above everybody in this tournament. And they showed it today.
Obviously, it's hard to compare to a 16 seed, but they meant business and they showed it. And I think they're putting the fear in other teams that they have to face in this bracket.
JASON FITZ: Is it-- because you've been a believer in Connecticut's depth all year--
KRYSTEN PEEK: Yes.
JASON FITZ: Really, it shining through, right?
KRYSTEN PEEK: Absolutely. Every player in the starting five scored in double digits. Donovan Clingan, just a master class in the paint. They knew early to get him the ball.
And you know what? I'm pretty sure the message from Dan Hurley to his squad was, let's go in and make a statement. I'm sure he heard-- after the draw that he got and people like us saying, oh, this is going to be a tough, tough road for UConn to the Final Four, look who they have, they have to go through Illinois, they have to go through Auburn-- and Dan Hurley said, let's take care of business early. Let's do what we know how to do. We've been number one for the majority of the year. Let's go show people why we're the best team in the country.
DANNY GREEN: Yeah, they don't care.
JASON FITZ: But sometimes we make simple things complicated when we study it so much, right?
KRYSTEN PEEK: Yes.
JASON FITZ: I think what's interesting to me is that this was a weird year in college basketball, but not for Connecticut. I started this off by saying defending national champions and top overall seed. And when you put all that together, Danny, I'm not sure that they've necessarily gotten the level of respect that typically a top overall seed, defending national champions get. That's part of why this statement, I think, is meaningful.
DANNY GREEN: Yeah, they definitely showed why they're defending champs and that they should get the respect. They don't care who's in their bracket. And they're showing, whoever is in front of us, we're going to prove to you guys this is not a tough bracket for us. If they keep playing the way they're playing-- they're playing at an unbelievable level-- and as I said, I don't want to see them face my Carolina boys in the Final Four.
JASON FITZ: There's a fine line between loving chaos and loving great basketball. But right now, that bracket particularly looks like it could give us several great matchups as we continue to move forward.
