The Aftermath: "Paige did Paige things"

Paige Bueckers did a little bit of everything in UConn’s 58-29 win over Marquette — she even won the opening tip-off.

With Aaliyah Edwards sidelined due to a nose injury, the Huskies needed someone to step up for the initial jump ball. While the 6-3 Ice Brady might’ve made the most sense, the 6-0 Bueckers assumed those duties.

“It was sort of a discussion. Wasn't long. I was gonna win that discussion. But once we found out it was either me or Ice, I was like, ‘Yeah, I got it,’” she said.

Bueckers stepped up to the center circle smiling, cracking jokes with the 6-2 Liza Karlen about their size difference. Then she locked in, won the tip, flexed in the direction of her own bench, and went up the floor.

“I don't know if they had the utmost confidence in me like the confidence I had in myself to win the jump ball so I just let them know,” she said about the flex.

Marquette couldn’t stop Bueckers on the opening tip and couldn’t stop her on the floor, either. Just nine seconds in, she drove to the rim to put UConn up 2-0.

In the first quarter, Bueckers had seven of the team’s 11 points. The next period, she put up a circus shot that went in with the help of a friendly roll. After the break, she dropped 10 points in the third — capped by a ridiculous buzzer-beating 3-pointer.

“There's nothing — literally nothing — that she thinks that if she sets her mind to it if she can’t do. She ran around the court after the buzzer-beater at the end of the third quarter. She knew it was going in. And that's how she is,” Geno Auriemma said about Bueckers. “She knew it was going in but she likes to celebrate like, ‘I told you so.’ You don’t find kids like that anymore.”

Arguably the best play of Bueckers’ day didn’t even end up on the stat sheet. She beat the first defender with a lightning-quick dribble behind the back at the top of the arc, drove to the rim, and went up and around a defender to dish a pass outside to KK Arnold. She then gave it to Nika Mühl, who drained a triple.

“Paige did Paige things,” Auriemma said.

It’s not like Bueckers needed more stats. She finished the day with 27 points on 11-16 shooting, a career-high 12 rebounds, four assists, four blocks, three steals and no fouls or turnovers.

“She's different. That's it. She's different,” Auriemma said. “That’s evident every time you see her play.”

Yet despite all the highlight reel plays, it all started with the dirty work for Bueckers.

“I was focused on rebounding with Aaliyah out,” she said. “That's a huge piece that we're missing. Aaliyah grabs every single rebound that comes off the rim.”

That’s just what Bueckers does, though. As a freshman, she won the Nancy Lieberman Award as the top point guard in the nation. When injuries struck earlier this season, she became UConn’s de facto 4 and thrived there. Without Edwards on Sunday, she embraced being in the post.

“Me and Ice holding the paint down,” Bueckers said with a smile.

“Holding the paint down?” Auriemma chimed in sarcastically.

None of it surprises the coach.

“She's one of those unique superstars that wants to be [a superstar] at both ends of the floor,” he said. “She gets a lot of enjoyment out of the rebounding that she can do, the blocked shots, the steals — stealing the inbounds pass on an out-of-bounds play.”

“You don't come across players like that very often.”

More on Bueckers’ day

Geno: “She talks about herself so much in a positive way. ‘This is what I'm gonna do.’ Like she's actually tells them, ‘This is what I'm going to do.’ Not in a bad way. It's just nonstop that when she does it, it's almost like ‘I told you I was going to do it’ and it's fun to be around that. But at the same time, we're all rooting for her not to get it done so we can make fun of her.”

Marquette coach Megan Duffy: “I'm biased, I think she's, if not one of the best players, top two in the country, just because of how she impacts a game and makes other people better… It's just phenomenal to see… She's tremendous.”

Aaliyah Edwards update

There’s good news and bad news when it comes to Edwards. The good news is that she doesn’t have a concussion and should be back for the NCAA Tournament. The bad news: Her nose is “way broken,” Auriemma said, adding that she’s unlikely to play in Monday’s championship game.

“People think you just slap a mask on and you're good to go, but you have to be able to breathe and you have to not have headaches — no concussion, which was great,” the coach said. “So now it's just about when are you comfortable? Is it tomorrow? I don't know — I doubt it. But who knows? I would say by two weeks from yesterday, we'll be good to go. We'll be right back to normal.”

That means UConn will likely have the same seven available in the championship game as it did on Sunday since Amari DeBerry is also sidelined with a concussion.

Dominant defense

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