NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL A quick travel turnaround for UConn
NEW YORK — Three UConn men’s basketball players — Donovan Clingan, Tristen Newton and Cam Spencer — took the stage for a press conference Sunday night after the Huskies’ victory over Northwestern, then made the long walk back to the team locker room.
Steps toward Boston, basically.
“Got to do this again in a few days,” Clingan said.
“I could play right now,” Spencer said.
They all laughed and chatted as they made their way through the Barclays Center. Two NCAA Tournament victories in the bag, four more to go — and a quick turnaround just ahead. It was about 10:15 p.m.
UConn, the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed, boarded a bus less than an hour later and began the ride back to Storrs. Monday signaled the start of preparation of San Diego State, the Sweet 16 opponent, and on Tuesday the Huskies would travel to Boston, where on Wednesday they were scheduled for press conferences, practices and other East Region responsibilities.
Regional games — the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight — are held either Thursday/ Saturday or Friday/Sunday. Boston is a ThursdaySaturday site, with UConn and San Diego State playing Thursday at 7:39 p.m. UConn was to spend only 36 hours or so back in Storrs before heading out on the road again.
“The committee or the powers that be with this tournament, they threw us this late game and we’ll be back at it on Thursday,” coach Dan Hurley said after Sunday’s game in Brooklyn, which started at about 8 p.m. “We don’t get the luxury of playing on Friday. It would have been nice to play an afternoon game (Sunday), knowing that we’re going to be playing again on Thursday.”
This is relatively minor, of course, pretty typical out-of-one-place and onto-the-next basketball travel. San Diego State defeated Yale on Sunday in Spokane, Wash., playing about two hours later than UConn, and has to travel across the country.
“We’ve dealt with this the whole year with the Big East,” Hurley said. “This time of year, you’re not practicing a lot, anyway. We’ll keep the boys fresh and we’ll put in great preparation, and I think we’re going to have some really, really insane UConn crowds. I think it will be much louder there than it was (in Brooklyn) for us. I get the feeling that some of our fans kind of just assumed we’d get out of here. They’ll be waiting for us in Boston.”
After Sunday’s game, program members moved like fireflies throughout the locker room, coaches’ offices and surrounding areas, gathering dirty jerseys and discarded athletic tape, stripping nameplates off lockers as keepsakes, filling a giant bin with players’ sneakers. Loading a team bus is complicated and arduous. And UConn was in a rush. The team bus arrived back on campus around 3 a.m. Monday.
Another bus will be loaded up and boarded Tuesday. This year’s NCAA Tournament road map is uncomplicated in that it doesn’t include a flight. But Brooklyn and Boston are not easy driving destinations, and as 7foot-3 Donovan Clingan pointed out, seats on UConn’s chartered flights are much more comfortable than bus seats.
“We’ll be all right,” Newton said. “We’re fine. Boston is right up the street, so we’re good.”
UConn (33-3) is not in a complaining mood, having blown out Stetson and Northwestern. That’s eight straight NCAA Tournament game victories by double-digits and UConn has romped in ways to be viewed as an overwhelming favorite to win a second consecutive championship. The winner of Thursday’s Sweet 16 game faces either Illinois or Iowa State Saturday in the Elite Eight with a Final Four berth on the line.
Last season, UConn rolled through Albany and Las Vegas on the way to Houston for the Final Four.
Like Madison Square Garden for the Big East Tournament and Brooklyn for the first two rounds, Boston provides the UConn fan base with a reachable destination. The Huskies, who have overwhelmed teams defensively and energetically, will have the luxury of playing in a supercharged and supportive environment.
And for Alex Karaban, it’s a dream come true. He is from Southborough, Mass.
“I was excited,” Karaban said. “There was a whole motivation factor between wanting to get this 1 seed — not just because of the UConn fans to that could come to Brooklyn and Boston, but more importantly, I get to play in Boston. I’m super excited to have this one chance — two chances — to play with this UConn team in Boston.”
The Final Four is April 6-8 in Phoenix.