"Hide your favoritism a bit": Fans troll Geno Auriemma as Azzi Fudd moment gets caught on camera

A moment between UConn coach Geno Auriemma and star player Azzi Fudd was caught on camera during the Huskies' win over Butler. Fans did not let this go unnoticed as they shared their thoughts on X.

With 1:09 left in the second quarter and UConn leading Butler 37-17, Fudd dribbled past a defender on the right wing. Instead of taking an open jumper, she passed the ball to her teammate, Jana El-Alfy. As Alfy attempted to receive the pass, the ball bounced off her leg and went out of bounds.

After the play, the camera panned to Geno Auriemma on the sideline, who was seen gesturing to Fudd and appeared to be telling her:

"Azzi, shoot the ball".

This moment was picked up by fans on Twitter, who called out Auriemma's supposed favoritism towards the 5-foot-11 guard.

"Bro is so respectful when talking to her compared to everybody else like hide your favoritism a bit," one user tweeted.

"The difference between how he talks to Azzi and everyone else is hilarious, it's literally," a fan wrote, adding a meme of celebrity chef, Gordon Ramsay.

"But when Paige he's like this 😑😡 thats make it funny 😂😂😂," another explained the situation using emojis.

"See how soft grandpa is talking that's princess 😭😭," one fan joked.

Here are a few more reactions:

"It’s actually crazy how his demeanour switches with her," a fan stated.

"I love seeing geno coach azzi he has such a soft spot for her ☹️🫶," one more added.

Azzi Fudd finished the game with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting and 3 rebounds in 27 minutes of action.

Geno Auriemma applauds Butler's first-ever women’s basketball sellout

Wherever the UConn Huskies travel, they tend to draw impressive crowds. Saturday was no exception as No. 5 UConn visited Butler, leading to Hinkle Fieldhouse's first-ever women's basketball sellout, with 9,100 fans in attendance to watch Geno Auriemma's squad.

The Hall of Fame coach praised the Bulldogs fans for their support and described the arena as an "iconic building" after UConn's dominant 86-47 win.

"There was huge response — I'm sure Paige and some other players have lot to do with that," Auriemma said postgame. "I think it's fantastic that the Butler kids, the Butler coaching staff and the Butler fans had a chance to experience this."

The last time UConn played Butler in Indianapolis in Jan. 2023, only 2,414 fans showed up at the arena.