Bridgeport — UConn coach Geno Auriemma has been talking about Oregon coach Kelly Graves since Oregon's 71-70 victory over Temple and former UConn assistant coach Tonya Cardoza in the opening round of the NCAA tournament, March 18.

Now he can talk about Graves even more.

Top-seeded UConn (35-0) will meet No. 10 Oregon (23-13) in the Bridgeport Regional final Monday at 7 p.m., with Oregon continuing its roll through the tournament with a 77-63 victory over No. 3 Maryland in the Sweet 16 on Saturday.

Oregon has six freshmen on its roster and starts three. Graves is in his third season at Oregon, following his tenure at Gonzaga, where he led the Zags to three straight Sweet 16 appearances and one Elite Eight.

“I remember when Kelly got the job, I told everybody in the coaching profession, 'They're going to be in the Final Four sooner than anybody thinks,'” Auriemma said. “It better not be this soon. But they're going to be there because he's a hell of a coach. He's as good as there is in our profession.

“You can tell a lot about a coach by the way his team plays.”

On Saturday, Graves became the first coach in the history of the NCAA tournament to take two different double-digit seeds to the Elite Eight.

Graves said it's because he never gets too uptight.

“The one thing I've been able to do over the years — I think this is my ninth or 10th win as a double-digit seed — is throw out the seeds. Who cares. We're a good basketball team. We're in the field. We're a good team. I always say a good team with nothing to lose is a dangerous team,” Graves said.

“But listen, I've never scored a basket in the NCAA tournament. It's about the players. It truly is.”

Oh, Canada

Auriemma stopped UCLA junior point guard Jordin Canada in the handshake line and spoke to her for a few moments after Canada's 20-point, 11-assist performance, which allowed her to set the Bruins' single-season record for assists with 242.

Canada was asked what Auriemma said to her.

“I'm assuming he thought I was a senior because he said, 'Congrats on a great career. Good luck on the next level,'” said Canada, who rang up the most assists in a single game ever against UConn in NCAA tournament play. “I just took it and ran with it. I told him, 'Thank you.'”

“When kids start out as a freshman, they feel like they've been there forever,” Auriemma said. “She's become a really, really good player. We played them two years ago and we didn't have to guard her that much. Now, you see, she controls the entire game for them.”

Quotable

UCLA coach Cori Close called her opening statement after the loss to UConn her least favorite statement of the year because it meant the end of the Bruins' season.

Said an emotional Close, paying tribute to her team:

“I told the three seniors that I'm different, I'm better because of them. I feel like I've received way more than I have ever given.”

And more

UConn senior Saniya Chong earned her 151st career victory Saturday, tying her with last year's senior class of Breanna Stewart, Morgan Tuck and Moriah Jefferson for most all time. … Katie Lou Samuelson needs just five more 3-point field goals to tie the school single-season record of 121 set by Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (2014-15). The NCAA record is 129, set last season by Brianna Butler of Syracuse. … Samuelson and her sister Karlie will both play in the Elite Eight, with Karlie's Stanford team taking on Notre Dame beginning at noon Sunday in Lexington, Kentucky. … UConn will be playing its second straight Pac-12 opponent when it takes on Oregon. UCLA finished fourth in the conference this season with a league record of 13-5; Oregon was sixth at 8-10. Seven teams from the league made the NCAA tournament, with five reaching the Sweet 16.

v.fulkerson@theday.com