UConn’s Clingan dominates in final Big East tuneup
STORRS — Every one of Donovan Clingan’s baskets for the UConn men’s basketball team Saturday afternoon came either with his fingers on the rim (dunk after dunk) or just inches away (layup after layup), and with all sorts of open space around him.
Clingan went 10-for-10 from the field and scored a career-high 21 points in the Huskies’ 114-61 victory over LIU at Gampel Pavilion, which was probably the easiest two-hour stretch of his college basketball experience thus far.
Guards drove and fed him and he dunked or dropped it in. When guards happened to miss, he cleaned up. Clingan, who had 11 rebounds, put back a Nahiem Alleyne miss with a dunk at the halftime buzzer and ran off the court, slapping hands, UConn leading by 35. He was 8-for-8 from the field at that point.
“The guards were doing a good job of driving the ball in the paint, so I just had to get in my position when my men stepped up, for the step-in dunks,” Clingan said. “When Nahiem shot that shot, I was positioning myself because I knew there was a short clock, just to be able to get the rebound and put it back. Just trying to position myself in the best places is important.”
After making 8 of 9 shots for 16 points Wednesday at Florida, Clingan has made 18 of 19 for 37 points over the past two games. Only one UConn player has made more than 10 shots in a game without a miss. Amida Brimah was 13-for-13 against Coppin State on Dec. 14, 2014. Kirk King also once went 10-for-10, against Providence on Jan. 13, 1996.
Clingan was 1-for-3 on free throws Saturday. Other than that, it was as if he was given something harmless and fun to play around with in advance of Big East play after establishing such a solid freshman platform over a full month against good and mediocre teams alike.
A player of Clingan’s size and talent level is going to have a good chance to shoot a high percentage in a game like Saturday’s, and it’s rather difficult to properly gauge the progress, or the potential for future impact, of a 7-foot-2 center based on what he does against one of the worst Division I teams in America.
But the performance was something of a capstone for Clingan, his final entry into the Huskies’ unblemished run through the nonconference slate, the first turnstile of his promising career.
Everything gets serious for good next week. The Huskies play at Butler on Saturday. Only Big East teams remain on the schedule.
“Much closer games, being involved in dog fights, more physical games,” coach Dan Hurley said. “I think non-conference games tend to get refereed a little bit softer and you do beat the hell out of each other in conference games.”
Some awaiting players represent a new challenge.
Jack Nunge of Xavier is 7 feet, 245 pounds.
Joel Soriano of St. John’s is 6-11, 260.
Ryan Kalkbrenner of Creighton is 7-1, 260.
Really, this is the time when Adama Sanogo will become even more of a focal point for what UConn can and must do inside. But Clingan has done all anyone could have expected him to, showing the skill and knowhow that makes him a capable wing man. He is averaging 10.5 points, a team-high 6.9 rebounds, 15.1 minutes and 2.1 blocks while shooting 75.4 percent from the field.
This is not just because he’s tall. Clingan sets increasingly impressive
screens. He throws and catches the ball well. He finds the right spots. He’s efficient in his movement. He tends to get a little wobbly at times in certain defensive stances but, all in all, he’s probably much more polished than most would have assumed and he’s a reason why UConn has shot up the national rankings to No. 5.
“A great high school coach,” Hurley said of Bristol Central’s Tim Barrette. “You knew what you were getting. He met his high school coach to workout at 6 a.m. before school started. I was there. When we were recruiting him, we’d go in and watch the workouts. The first time you saw him play, you said, ‘This guy’s a natural basketball player and he’s got a feel. Hands. Feet. Vision.’”
Hurley recalled a Bristol Central game that he attended, against South Windsor. Clingan was tripledteamed in the post and dribbled and backed away from the coverage instead of forcing a shot.
“He skipped it to the weak side with his left hand off the dribble,”
Hurley said. “Like, whoa. This guy understands sports, basketball, feel, skill. And he’s alive out there. He’s got passion. He loves to play. He’s a competitive kid. He’s a joy to coach, man. All the attention he’s getting and the way he’s played this year, too, there’s not an ounce — I mean, I’m sure he loves the Dopamine. They all love it, right? — but he’s remained very, very coachable. And the best thing about him is he’s a pleaser. He wants to please his coaches and he wants to please his teammates.”
UConn hasn’t played its best game yet. There are positions the Huskies need better production from, Hurley said. A little smile turned into a little laugh when he added, “I’m obviously not talking about center.”
Sanogo, who had 16 points on 8 of 12 shooting Saturday, is giving UConn averages of 18.3 points, 6.6 rebound and 24.1 rebounds. He looks like an All-American. His earliest contributions to this season were to rough up Clingan, who was still working toward getting in proper condition, over the summer.
“When you play against Adama Sanogo every day since June, you’re going to improve a lot,” Hurley said.
Clingan was asked if working against Sanogo upon arrival to UConn was an eye-opening, welcome-to-college-basketball experience. He laughed. Jordan Hawkins, seated to his right, did, too. Clearly, there were some humbling moments.
“Going 1-on-1 against Adama was nothing that I had ever experienced before, with how strong he is, how he can finish and pump-fake and keep stepping through,” Clingan said. “He can finish with both hands. It was an eye-opener for me because there were times where I’d jump and [try to] block, and it was just a pump fake and step through and he’d finish it. He’s just a strong, strong player. Even going against him, trying to move him in practice, is hard. But it’s good for me.”
Clingan was MVP at the Phil Knight Invitational, where UConn defeated Oregon, Alabama and Iowa State to really make a name for itself. After going without a field goal for the only time this season in a home victory over Oklahoma State, he has taken another small step in his development with statistics that jump off the box score.
A lot of this has to do with how versatile UConn is, how many perimeter weapons the Huskies have to stretch defenses. But Clingan gets to the right spots behind those defenses and finishes. He’s maturing. Quickly. His ceiling is so high. So, too, is his floor.
Tougher defenses await.
“I’m ready to play against the physicality of the Big East,” Clingan said. “I think we’re all ready.”