ATTACK DOGS Another rout puts Huskies on brink of return to Final Four
BOSTON — Connecticut is halfway to history.
Three wins down, three wins to go to become the first team to repeat since Florida in 2006-07.
This was more difficult than the first two NCAA Tournament wins that felt like scrimmages, but not by much. San Diego State hung with the top-seeded Huskies for a half. Then, UConn turned it on, cruising to the Elite Eight on the strength of an 82-52 thrashing at TD Garden Thursday night. It has now won nine straight tournament games by double figures after dominating the rematch of last year’s national championship game. The average margin of victory in those games: 22.8.
“We suck at winning close games, so you have to go with the alternative,” coach Dan Hurley joked after Connecticut equaled a program record with its 34th victory. “No, I think the group, we have killer instincts. We play every possession with great desperation. We have NBA-level players that are incredibly well-prepared by [assistants] Luke Murray and Kimani Young, two of the best coaches in the country. Obviously we’re very comfortable in tournament play. We’re hard to prepare for.”
The No. 5 Aztecs only trailed by four late in the first half, but that was as close as they would get. Cam Spencer scored the final five points of the stanza and the Huskies (34-3) scored 11 of the first 15 points after halftime. It was a 16-point lead at that point and the Connecticut-heavy crowd was in celebration mode. It sounded like Storrs North, as Connecticut became the first defending national champion to reach the Elite Eight the following year since Florida in 2007.
“We had to win a s-–t ton of games to get that,” Hurley said.
UConn will face third-seeded Illinois on Saturday for a shot at the Final Four.
The lead was 21 after a Donovan Clingan dunk with 6:50 to go and increased to as much as 32. San Diego State couldn’t compete on the glass — it was outrebounded by 21 — and couldn’t make a shot in the second half (32 percent). Connecticut outscored the Mountain West Conference school by 20 points in the paint and held All-American Jaedon LeDee to 18 points on 8 of 18 shooting.
By Connecticut’s lofty standards, it wasn’t an especially impressive offensive performance, although facing a top-10 defense had a lot to do with that. The Huskies shot 46 percent from the field, but it didn’t matter. Spencer led them with 18 points, Tristen Newton added 17 and Stephon Castle posted the first double-double of his career with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
“We’re not satisfied. We came here to win the national championship,” Spencer said. “It was a great win tonight, but we’re already thinking about Saturday and moving on to the Final Four.”
San Diego State (26-11) started hot, and even held an early lead, the first time Connecticut had trailed in the tournament. The Huskies quickly took command on the strength of a 12-2 run and led by as many as 11 after five straight points from Spencer. It was a nine-point game at halftime, but not very competitive from that point on.
The Connecticut machine rolled along, continuing to look unbeatable in handing San Diego State its most lopsided loss of the season by a wide margin. It’s clearly a special team that appears determined to leave its mark.
“Listen, the way the defending champs have fared in recent history, it’s kind of been against the odds in terms of the season we’re having following up the national championship with an even better season, winning the Big East regular season by multiple games and setting a program record now for wins on the season and winning the Big East Tournament and now getting to an Elite Eight,” Hurley said. “This team has defied what past champions have done and taken this program to a completely different level.”