Texas basketball vs. UConn: Prediction, scouting report for Jimmy V Women's Classic game
No. 10 Texas is 8-0 and has outscored its opponents by a 734-399 margin to start the season. The Longhorns will face their toughest test so far when No. 11 UConn (4-2) makes an appearance at Moody Center on Sunday afternoon.
Sunday's scintillating showdown will get the network treatment as ABC is set to televise the 2 p.m. tip. This game is part of the 2023 Jimmy V Women's Classic.
Here is what to know about the matchup:
Can Texas continue to dominate in the paint?
Texas senior forward Taylor Jones is averaging a team-high 17.4 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. In Wednesday's 112-74 rout of Oral Roberts, Jones tied a school record when she went 11-for-11 from the field.
As a team, Texas has scored 418 points in the paint this season. Its opponents have scored 186.
Texas, though, has gotten by with bullying undersized opponents. That won't be the case Sunday. Aaliyah Edwards is a 6-foot-3 forward who earned AP All-American honors last season. Edwards is scoring 14.3 points per game.
Why are UConn and Texas playing now?
Texas heads into this game with an 0-10 record against UConn. Only three of those contests were decided by less than 10 points.
Sunday's game actually fulfills a scheduling agreement that was made in February 2019 when Karen Aston was still the coach at Texas. Due to the pandemic and some scheduling issues, the start of this home-and-home series was delayed until last season. The Longhorns and Huskies were originally supposed to play during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons.
This week, Texas coach Vic Schaefer said that he was open to scheduling nonconference games against UConn in the future.
Injuries are again a storyline for Texas, UConn
UConn star Paige Bueckers missed last season with a knee injury, so the 2021 Naismith Trophy winner was unavailable for UConn's 83-76 win over Texas. During that seven-point loss, UT point guard Rori Harmon sat with an injured toe.
Injuries will still be a storyline in the rematch. UConn junior guard Azzi Fudd, who scored 32 points against Texas last year, suffered both a meniscal tear and an anterior cruciate ligament tear in her right knee last month. ESPN reported that UConn guard Caroline Ducharme is also unlikely to play Sunday due to neck spasms.
Due to an ailing ankle, all-conference forward DeYona Gaston has yet to appear in a game for Texas this season. Senior forward Khadija Faye missed the Oral Roberts game Wednesday with a shoulder injury.
Texas vs. UConn prediction
Texas makes the most of its time in the national spotlight, and the Longhorns eke one out against a battle-tested yet bruised UConn team. M
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Prediction, scouting report for Texas-UConn basketball game
