Clingan, Newton lead UConn in romp
BROOKLYN,
Who?
Donovan Clingan, that’s who. And Tristen Newton. And Alex Karaban and Cam Spencer.
And how about Stephon Castle and Hassan Diarra, who tagteamed to hold Northwestern’s high-scoring Boo Buie to 2-for-15 shooting?
It all added up to yet another dominant NCAA Tournament victory for the UConn men’s basketball team, a 75-58 pasting of Northwestern that was never in question.
UConn led 40-18 at halftime, upped its lead to 30 (57-27) midway through the latter half, then played to the score a bit and allowed the Wildcats to make the score a bit more respectable.
Clingan flirted with a tripledouble and finished with 14 points, 14 rebounds and eight blocks. Newton netted a teamhigh 20 points (despite missing all six of his 3-pointers) and doled out 10 assists.
Spencer didn’t need to score 23 points or hit a game-winning 3pointer, as he did last season for Rutgers against the Wildcats. Instead, he doled out assists on the Huskies’ first four baskets and finished with 11 points. Karaban chipped in with nine points and Samson Johnson provided his usual highlight reel of dunks off the bench.
The Huskies dominated despite shooting just 3-for-23 from 3, one of them a late-game trey by Andre Johnson Jr. that irked Hurley with the outcome in no doubt. They were the first three points of the season for the walk-on guard.
Top-seeded UConn (33-3) will now face either its Connecticut neighbor to the south, or its victim
N.Y. — Boo in last year’s national title game in a Sweet 16 game on Thursday (7:39 p.m.) at Boston’s TD Garden. The Huskies will face either Yale or San Diego State, who played a late game on Sunday night in Spokane, Washington.
It’s starting to look like it doesn’t matter whom the Huskies play anymore.
Once again, UConn dominated from the very start, scoring the game’s first seven points while the Wildcats (22-12) misfired on their first six shots, 10 of their first 12 and 15 of their first 19.
Clingan had a double-double (12 points, 11 rebounds) and was officially on triple-double watch (five blocks) by halftime, at which UConn owned a 40-18 lead.
The Huskies hit just 2 of 11 3pointers in the first half but hit 14 of 19 from inside the arc for 53percent overall shooting. They outscored the Wildcats 28-12 in the paint and 11-0 on fast breaks, and had 13 assists on their 16 baskets.
Meanwhile, Northwestern shot just 26-percent (8-for-31) and missed all eight of its 3-pointers. Buie and Brooks Barnhizer, who combined for 35 points in Friday’s opening-round win over Florida Atlantic, were a combined 0for-14 from the floor for two points over the first 20 minutes.
Buie, who averaged 19.3 points per game this season, finished with just nine points.
SC:
“He’s a good player, but I believe in what we can do on defense. I just want to win, so I’m just taking on these challenges the coaches are giving me.”
“Doing what the coaches have taught me, staying solid, using my athleticism against him, using my height advantage against him, and just trying to win the game, really.”
“I feel like we can win any kind of game. I’ve said it many times before, I think we’re the best team in the country. What better chance to show it than in March?”
HD:
“We understand he’s a really good player, and as he goes the team goes. We just were locked in on him defensively. I think it was a team effort. Donovan in the high flats being very active, Sam on his hard hedges are amazing. Guys are in the gap, rotating.”
“Steph has these tools, he’s physically-gifted. He’s able to use these tools against any player. He can guard 1 through 4. He’s an amazing defender, he’s relentless, and his motor just keeps going and going.”
“I would be frustrated too.” “I can’t wait. I love Boston. Boston is a great city. They try to take a lot of our stuff from New York, but I’m a big fan of Boston, I know a lot of people out there.”