Paige Bueckers caught the inbounds pass and began sprinting up the left side of the court, with North Carolina’s Grace Townsend draped all over her like a blanket. The clock was winding down in the first quarter and Bueckers, UConn’s star guard, wanted to see if she could get one more shot up.
She stopped right in front of Tar Heels’ coach Courtney Banghart, pumped, jumped and fired over Townsend. It was an awkward-looking attempt, as the senior was leaning to her left, but there was nothing ugly about how the ball sailed through the air.
Buzzer. Swish.
Bueckers watched the ball fall through the hoop, then turned towards the North Carolina bench as her confident walk morphed into a jubilant skip.
PAIGE AT THE BUZZER 😳
Paige Bueckers up to 15 points at the end of the first 🔥 pic.twitter.com/OB8r94ftr0
— ESPN (@espn) November 15, 2024
It was one of the many highlight-worthy plays Bueckers had on Friday night in front of an announced crowd of 10,467 fans at the historic Greensboro Coliseum, where the No. 2 Huskies beat the No. 14 Tar Heels 69-58.
Bueckers led all scorers with a season-high 29 points on 12-of-21 shooting to go along with four rebounds, four assists and two steals – and zero turnovers – in 37 minutes of action. It was the first road game of the season for UConn and a memorable performance by the two-time consensus All-American in what is presumed to be by many her final year in college basketball.
“Paige is really special,” Banghart said after the game. “We’ve got an opportunity to watch a generational player for a couple more games before she goes on to the pros. She’s an exceptional player. She’s unselfish. We focus our defense on her. I think she doesn’t push, she doesn’t force, she has teammates she trusts and utilizes them well.”
When asked about Banghart’s “generational” label regarding Bueckers, UConn coach Geno Auriemma responded in a way that only he could.
“Well, I’ve been around a lot of generations, so I’ve had a lot of generational players, that people described as generational,” Auriemma said with a smile on the night that one of his former stars, Sue Bird, would be announced to the Basketball Hall of Fame. In the victory over UNC, Auriemma also tied Tara VanDerveer for college basketball’s all-time wins record.
“I guess this is true,” the 70-year-old Auriemma continued. “So, what makes them that? The ability to perform at an incredibly high level, and an even higher level than you expect. And you already expect the most, and yet, (Bueckers) gives you even more than that. And I think that’s probably the best description I can give you, is that she never fails to live up to your expectations of her, and then even goes above that. Some people are just born with that gift, and she has the gift. Some people squander those gifts. Every day, she works really hard to polish those gifts.”
By using freshman Sarah Strong as a moving human shield at times to knock down 3-pointers off her screens, driving towards the rim with precision and certainty, and dishing neck-breaking assists to Huskies’ shooters like Kaitlyn Chen, this outing from Bueckers was one where she reminded everyone that she is still one of the best players – if not the best – in college basketball.
While Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese got all the attention last season, and many pointing to USC’s JuJu Watkins and Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo as the sport’s rising stars, it’s worth remembering that Bueckers was the National Player of the Year as a freshman, before a knee injury forced her to miss a season-and-a-half of action. Last season, over 38 games, Bueckers ranked fifth nationally in PER (40.1), second in win shares (8.9) and 10th in scoring (22.2) as she powered the Huskies to a Big East title and a Final Four berth.
“I really do believe that, unless you foul her every time, that’s the only way you’re going to stop her from doing what she wants to do. That’s it,” Auriemma said of Bueckers. “I think she’s the most difficult player to guard in America. There may be nights like tonight where she’s going to have to be.”
This season for the Huskies feels like championship-or-bust. With Bueckers leading the way and a stellar supporting cast around her, it feels incredibly likely that we’ll see UConn playing at the Final Four in Tampa in April.
