Geno Auriemma still not satisfied despite Azzi Fudd and Kaitlyn Chen stepping up during Paige Bueckers and Sarah Strong's struggles

UConn Huskies coach Geno Auriemma seems to have been left unsatisfied with his team's play after the first half against the DePaul Blue Demons on Wednesday. The sixth-ranked team in the nation took on their Big East foes, where the 70-year-old was still asking for more from his players despite leading 40-24 after two quarters of play on the road.

Veteran guards Azzi Fudd and Kaitlyn Chen led the charge after stars Paige Bueckers and Sarah Strong struggled from the field. This led to the aforementioned 16-point lead, and despite some of his backcourt players stepping up, Auriemma expressed how the whole team could do better during his halftime interview with SNY while commending the senior standouts.

"Those guys have been great. Azzi right from the opening tip, and same from Kaitlyn," he said (0:40). "Those guys have been aggressive. We just got to get a little more movement and move them a little bit. We're kind of playing too much two-man game. Now, we need a third guy to step up."

Fudd and Chen posted team highs in points with 17 apiece, along with Fudd pitching four rebounds, five assists and a steal, while Chen contributed one rebound, three dimes and one steal.

In turn, it was not a good night for the usually efficient Bueckers, who only dropped eight markers on an abysmal 2-for-10 shooting with three boards, three assists, two steals and a block. Strong, who is having a standout rookie season, had 11 points, eight caroms, three assists and four stocks (steals plus blocks).

Padding on its double-digit edge in the first half with more ball movement, the Auriemma-coached squad added to its advantage as the second half rolled on. Eventually, the Huskies would dominate the Blue Demons by a 26-point gap of 84-58 via a collective effort.

Geno Auriemma lauds his team's effort to crash the glass

While he had some criticism on how his team was faring offensively after two frames of play, Geno Auriemma did commend the UConn Huskies, who were winning the rebound battle against a well-known rebounding opponent. His squad would eventually out-rebound the opposition 37-34, which was one of the driving forces of its triumph.

"I think pretty good (on the physicality)," he said (0:10). "They're the leading offensive rebounding team in the league so, I think we've done a pretty good job on the first half. I mean, they have 24 points. So, down there (on offense), we're a little bit disjointed. We gotta get a rhythm down there. We haven't had one in the entire first half."

Following the conference win, No. 11 UConn will now prepare for Sunday's Big East matchup against the Butler Bulldogs on its home floor, as it aspires to nab its 12th straight victory of the division, 21st overall.