The Aftermath: Paige Bueckers wastes no time taking over in exhibition

For the first 2.5 minutes of UConn’s exhibition on Sunday, Paige Bueckers started like she had any other game in her career. She sat back, allowing her teammates to take the first four shots.

Then Bueckers diverged from her past self. At the 7:30 mark of the first quarter, she flipped a switch and took over. Bueckers started off with a jumper, then followed it up with another mid-range bucket. At the end of the quarter, she drove to the rim for a lay-in and drilled a step-back 3-pointer on the next possession.

Through 10 minutes, she had nine of the Huskies’ 15 points while making all four attempts from the field.

Bueckers wasn’t done, either. She put up 10 points on 4-4 shooting in the second quarter and single-handedly out-scored Fort Hays State at the half, 19-17. She finished the day with 27 points on 12-14 shooting — Bueckers made twice as many shots as her next closest teammate.

Yet as impressive as the numbers were, the way she got them was far more significant. Outside the opening few minutes, Bueckers attacked with the ball and showed no hesitation in doing so. She didn’t force it, either — underscored by the zero turnovers.

“This is kind of what Paige wants to do — exactly what she did today,” Geno Auriemma said postgame. “That's how she wants to play and I'm sure that's something she's going to try to do every game if she can.”

Bueckers also helped carry UConn through some rough patches. Even with the significant talent advantage, it was clear the Huskies still haven’t totally gelled on the court given all the new faces and moving pieces. That, along with first-game jitters, was obvious in the first quarter when they shot just 7-19 from the field.

But Bueckers had four of those baskets and made sure UConn led 15-11 through 10 minutes.

“Paige can do a lot to help fix that whenever it goes sideways, especially in the frame of mind that she's in right now, the way she has been in practice all year, all preseason,” Auriemma said.

Even though Bueckers still has to prove she can do this on a consistent basis — not to mention against a Division I opponent, let alone high-end competition — this new version of herself couldn’t be off to a better start.

Standout debuts

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