No. 3 UConn routs Seton Corridor, wins outright Large East title

STORRS, Conn. — No. 3 UConn is the defending males’s basketball nationwide champion. Nevertheless, the Huskies had not received even a share of the Large East regular-season title in 18 years.

Donovan Clingan scored 19 factors and pulled down 11 rebounds to steer a balanced assault, and Connecticut clinched its first outright Large East championship in 25 years Sunday with a 91-61 rout of Seton Corridor.

The workforce thought of the achievement sufficiently big to chop down the nets at Gampel Pavilion after the sport.

“The toughest factor to do is to be wonderful over the course of three, 4 months in a brutal, onerous league,” mentioned UConn coach Dan Hurley, who performed at Seton Corridor.

Freshman Stephon Fortress tied a profession excessive with 21 factors and Tristen Newton had 17 factors and 10 assists for the Huskies (26-3, 16-2 Large East), who completed this season undefeated at residence (16-0). Alex Karaban added 13 factors.

Dre Davis had 20 factors and Kadary Richmond scored 15 to steer Seton Corridor (18-11, 11-7), which stays in fourth place within the Large East with the loss, a sport forward of Villanova.

UConn, which misplaced at Seton Corridor by 15 factors in December, shot 56% from the ground, outscored the Pirates 52-30 within the paint, outrebounded them 38-26 and scored 24 factors off 11 Seton Corridor turnovers.

“I really feel like our protection actually went to the subsequent stage,” mentioned Clingan, who missed 5 video games after struggling a proper foot harm through the loss in New Jersey. “Coach has actually emphasised simply making an attempt to work on our protection, simply making an attempt to actually guard the ball at a excessive stage, rebound the ball at a excessive stage.”

Davis had 12 factors within the first 10 minutes and 16 factors within the first half for Seton Corridor. His three-point play on a layup sparked a 7-0 run that gave the Pirates an 18-14 lead.

However UConn responded with a 15-2 run, highlighted by a steal and certainly one of a number of highlight-reel dunks from Fortress.

A floater within the lane from Karaban put the Huskies up by 15 factors at intermission and the Huskies outscored Seton Corridor 47-32 within the second half.

The Huskies beforehand received all of their regular-season residence video games again in 2005-06, after they completed 16-0 within the league. That was the identical season this system received a share of its most up-to-date Large East regular-season title.

“We really feel it is tougher to win the Large East than the nationwide championship,” Newton mentioned.

The Pirates, picked to complete ninth within the convention’s preseason ballot, stay on the bubble for an NCAA match berth, nevertheless it was a troublesome week. In line with ESPN Stats & Data analysis, Seton Corridor authored consecutive losses by 20-plus factors for first time since 2008-09, having misplaced by 21 at No. 12 Creighton on Wednesday.

Pirates coach Shaheen Holloway didn’t communicate with reporters or make his gamers out there after the sport. They entered Sunday as certainly one of Joe Lunardi’s final 4 groups within the match.

The Related Press contributed to this report.