Uconn continues title defense with rout
Take out Northwestern with ease to reach Sweet 16
Donovan Clingan, Tristen Newton and top overall seed Uconn overwhelmed an undermanned Northwestern team 75-58 on Sunday night to sail into the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
Newton had 20 points and 10 assists, and Clingan finished with 14 points, 14 rebounds and eight blocks as the Huskies led wire-to-wire and became the first defending national champions to reach the regional semifinals since Duke in 2016.
PURDUE 106, UTAH STATE 67
Zach Edey had 23 points and 14 rebounds, and No. 1 seed Purdue cruised into the Sweet 16 by pounding eighth-seeded Utah State with an impressive offensive performance.
Trey Kaufman-renn added 18 points and eight boards for Purdue, which broke the school’s singleseason record for victories.
Great Osodor, the Mountain West Player of the Year, had 14 points and six rebounds for Utah State.
DUKE, 93,
JAMES MADISON 55
Jared Mccain scored 22 of his 30 points in the first half and set a Duke record for an NCAA Tournament game with eight 3-pointers as the Blue Devils ended 12th-seeded James Madison’s dream.
Mccain and Duke emphatically ended the nation’s longest active winning streak at 14 games, taking a 22-point lead into halftime and never letting the advantage slip below 20 in the second half.
Terrence Edwards Jr. led JMU with 13 points.
CLEMSON 72, BAYLOR 64
Chase Hunter had 20 points and six assists, and No. 6 seed Clemson held off third-seeded Baylor.
Joseph Girard III scored 13 points for the Tigers.
Rayj Dennis led Baylor with 27 points, including 21 in the second half. Ja’kobe Walter added 20 points, but the Bears lost in the second round of the NCAA tourney for the third straight year.
ALABAMA 72,
GRAND CANYON 61
Mark Sears had 26 points and 12 rebounds, Mouhamed Dioubate scored all nine of his points in the final 51/2 minutes, and fourthseeded Alabama used a late surge to beat No. 12 seed Grand Canyon.
Sears made 8 of 18 shots and cheekily waved goodbye in the final seconds to the Grand Canyon “Havocs” fans who filled Spokane Arena.
Tyon Grant-foster scored 29 points, one off his career high, but didn’t score in the final 4:40 for the Lopes.