Paige Bueckers 'feeling good' following return from knee sprain
There’s something about St. John’s that’s proven to be ripe for UConn’s biggest returns over the last few seasons.
When Paige Bueckers suffered a tibial plateau fracture and lateral meniscus tear that kept her out two months as a sophomore, her first game back came against the Red Storm. The next season, Azzi Fudd (knee) and Geno Auriemma (illness) both returned for a road contest with the Johnnies.
Fast forward to Wednesday and Bueckers’ 10-day, two-game absence ended against — who else? — St. John’s. Coming off a knee sprain, the redshirt senior slid right back into the starting lineup and put up 12 points despite being limited to just 23 minutes in the 71-45 win.
“I'm feeling good. Just glad to be back out there, obviously,” she said. “First game back from anything, you just want to get your feet wet, get the feel of playing basketball again, the physicality of it, the pace of it. But feeling good.”
Bueckers started fast by taking (and making) UConn’s first basket with an off-balanced jumper, then hit a couple free throws later on and followed it up with steals on back-to-back possessions. She racked up six points in just five minutes.
Then Bueckers hit a wall. The time on the sidelines — albeit brief — eventually caught up to her.
“Whenever you take any time off, you're always going to have a little bit of a pickup when you go in there. The way the game started, she looked like she just picked up exactly where she left off,” Auriemma said. “But then you start to see her drift and she doesn't have the stamina to keep her foot on the gas like she normally would.”
Bueckers missed her next three shots and went into halftime with those same six points.
“She spent a part of the first half just wandering — and we couldn’t get her enough shots,” Auriemma said.
Out of the break, Bueckers got it going again. She drilled all three attempts in the second half to push her total to 12 points — which ended up being one off the team lead. Auriemma eventually subbed her out for good at the 3:17 mark of the third quarter to manage her minutes. Considering the Huskies led by 19 at that point, there was no reason to risk anything.
“She said, ‘I'm not on a minute restriction.’ I said, ‘Well actually, you are but it will have nothing to do with your leg. It'll be everything how you play.’ That's why I couldn't wait to get her out in the first half,” Auriemma joked. “I was hoping for 20, 21, 22 (minutes) — maybe 10-11 minutes each half. So I think we hit the mark pretty close.”
The minutes limit did prevent Bueckers from reaching a milestone: She’s now just six points short of becoming the 13th Husky to reach 2,000 in her career. The good news is she’s still on pace to do it in record time. Maya Moore is currently the fastest player in program history to that mark, reaching it in 108 games. UConn’s next contest — Sunday against Seton Hall — will be Bueckers’ 102nd. She’ll get to hit it at Gampel Pavilion, too.
Ultimately, the Huskies expected there to be some bumps with Bueckers’ return. The main focus was just getting her back out on the floor — the performance itself was secondary. Everything else will follow.
“She's not a robot where you just put her in, push the button and everything happens automatically,” Auriemma said. “But glad we had her back today. She'll be even better on Sunday and let's just hope that's the last of this.”