Pointed response for UConn's Mühl

Mar. 15—STORRS — Nika Mühl got her first look at Paige Bueckers at the NBA Academies Women's Next Generation Program four years ago in Clearwater, Florida.

Earlier in the week, Bueckers — the nation's No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2020 — made her commitment to join the UConn women's basketball team public. Mühl, also a point guard, had the Huskies among her final five schools she was considering.

Mühl, though, was not deterred like many recruits would be, just more determined. Soon after returning home to Zagreb, Croatia, she announced her commitment to the Huskies.

"That says a lot about her and it's the epitome of who she is," UConn guard Caroline Ducharme said. "Nika never backs down. Once she puts her mind to something, it's going to get done. She is determined to leave a mark, whatever it may be.

"A lot of people would go, 'Well, Paige is there. Why would you go there?' They play the same position. But they do complement each other. They've shown how well they play together. Doing what she did says a lot about her and her commitment to the game."

Side by side, Bueckers and Mühl helped the Huskies to a pair of NCAA Final Four berths. But on Aug. 1, while they were on opposites of the world, UConn's world was turned upside down when Bueckers tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee and would require season-ending surgery. Mühl, who started 34 of the 56 games she played in her first two years, was the full-time starter at the point as a junior with the weight of the world on top of her.

She's responded with one of the more remarkable seasons in Huskies' history that will continue Saturday when No. 2 UConn (29-5) entertains No. 15 Vermont in an NCAA tournament Seattle 3 Regional first-round game at Gampel Pavilion.

"I was talking to my dad and I told him, 'At the beginning of the year if you told me all this would happen, I'd think you were crazy,' " Mühl said. "I would never have believed you. All the recognition and awards are nice, and they're proof of all the hard work over the years and the belief in myself.

"Huge props go to my team, because I believe they've made me better every day, every practice. That just shows how good my team is and what good teammates I have."

The 5-foot-10 Mühl enters NCAA tournament play averaging 7.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 7.8 assists in 36.4 minutes per game. She leads the Big East and is second nationally in assists while ranking third in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio and minutes played.

She has smashed Sue Bird's single-season school assist record with 259 and counting. She's had 10 double-figure assist games, a school single-season and program record. She was named the Big East's Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season and to the all-conference second team. She is a finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award as the nation's top point guard and was voted an Associated Press honorable mention All-American.

All that while holding down one of the toughest positions in the women's game — playing point guard for coach Geno Auriemma.

"How tough is she on me?" Auriemma said in response to that question. "Not as much as freshman year and last year. And I can be tough on her because she wants that. She appreciates that. She responds to that. She is confident enough in who she is to tell me exactly where she is relative to me.

"I like our point guards to be like that because it's supposed to be a collaboration. It's not supposed to be, 'I say this, you do that.' It's supposed to be, 'This is what I want, now you tell me how you're going to get it and then you're going to tell me why you didn't get it or what we need to do different to get it.' Each day she's becoming a little bit easier to coach."

It has been a long journey with plenty of bumps along the way.

It started when she chose the Huskies over Louisville, Ohio State, Oregon, and South Florida to play with Bueckers.

"The number one thing I thought was, 'If I'm going to win with anybody it would be with her,' " Mühl said. "I want to win. I didn't come here to be the star player, the go-to player. Nobody comes to UConn and automatically gets that. I wanted to be surrounded by the best players at my position that I could learn from and that could learn from me. She was the best and perfect player to do that with. We're both so competitive.

"Look, she's a better player than I am and everybody knows that. I loved that she was better than me because competing with her has made me so much better since I came here. That's why I came here, to get better and to win. Being with her gave me the environment that I could improve and grow."

Mühl did her part during Bueckers' national Player of the Year freshman season and stepped up a year ago when Bueckers missed 19 games with a left knee injury unrelated to the ACL tear.

When Bueckers informed her during a phone call that left Mühl in tears that her knee injury had ended her junior season before it began, it didn't hit her what it meant to her game or the team. She was devastated by the news and that her teammate couldn't do the thing she loved most.

But when the Huskies returned to campus for the start of fall semester classes, Mühl's new situation hit her hard.

"At first it was just the emotions rushing through me," Mühl said. "But when we started practicing I realized, 'Wow, we don't have Paige.' We had to work 10 times harder. It was a lot of pressure. If I could go back, I'd give everything I have for her not to be hurt. I had to embrace that opportunity and the pressure that was given to me.

"There have been challenges, a lot of ups and downs, a lot of downs, but overall I think I'm doing a good job. I hope Coach agrees."

She had 16 assists in UConn's first two games. She then broke Bueckers' single-game record with 15 assists against North Carolina State, the first of four straight double-figure games. She led the nation in assists for much of the year before falling behind Iowa star Caitlin Clark in February.

At the Big East tournament against Marquette, she became the 23rd UConn player to reach 400 career assists in only her 88th career game. Only Jill Brumbaugh (84) and Bird (87) have done it faster.

She could set a school single-season record for minutes played. But then again Mühl didn't travel some 4,200 miles three years ago to sit on the bench.

"I know how competitive I am and what I bring to the table," Mühl said. "My voice, my hustle, my grind, would always pay off. That's from my parents. Since I've put my head down and worked my hardest great things have happened to me I didn't care who I came here with. I knew my work ethic would get me to play, even if it was only five minutes a game."

If the Huskies are to make a run at another Final Four and compete for the national championship, Mühl will be in the middle of it. One look in her eyes shows how much she wants it for her team.

And she's never looked better.

For coverage of all sports in the JI's 18-town coverage area, plus updates on the UConn women's basketball team and head coach Geno Auriemma, follow Carl Adamec on Twitter: @CarlAdamec, Facebook: Carl Adamec, and Instagram: @CarlAdamec.