What went wrong (and right) in UConn's two-faced loss to USC

Since the beginning of the season, Geno Auriemma has pointed to Christmas as the point in the calendar where he would really know what his team is capable of. Not only did UConn have to blend together a roster that featured five returners, five newcomers and a few others coming off injury, it would be tested during a stretch in December that (at one point) featured four ranked opponents in five games.

Now, the Huskies find themselves at the supposed day of judgement. But after a two-faced, Jekyll and Hyde performance in a 72-70 loss to the No. 7 USC Trojans at the XL Center on Saturday night, the coach still doesn’t know what to make of his team.

“I lied,” Auriemma said. “I don't know any more now than I did when I told you that I would know before Christmas.”

It wasn’t that UConn played better in the second half compared to the first — the Huskies looked like two completely different teams. The one in the first half was a mess, completely out of its depth in a top-10 matchup (again). The other was a force to be reckoned with.

“If you look at our first half team, we're nowhere,” Auriemma said. “If you look at our second half team, we're a really, really good basketball team that can probably beat anybody in the country.”

Such has been life for the 2024-25 Huskies. They can be great for stretches, but the lows are as low as the highs are high.

“When we're really good, we're really good,” Paige Bueckers said. “And when we're not, we're not.”

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