It’s not every day the UConn men's basketball breaks 110 points. After all, they haven’t done so in nearly 17 years when they dropped 111 against Quinnipiac in December of 2005. On Saturday, the Huskies broke that figure in an absolute shellacking over the Long Island Sharks, 114-61.
“Obviously thrilled with the maturity and the way the group handled the game,” noted coach Dan Hurley.” The 29 assists and the way the ball moved and shared. It’s hard to do historical things in a place with all this history, but being the sixth team to make it out of the non-conference undefeated is a big deal.”
It’s no surprise that they won in such a fashion, as they’re a top five team in the country in most metrics and the Sharks fall in the bottom 10. The catalyst behind the effort was none other than Donovan “Big Bristol” Clingan, who posted 21 points and 11 boards against the undersized and overmatched Sharks. It’s also worth noting that the center went a perfect 10-10 from the field, a difficult feat.
“Much closer games, being involved in dogfights,” said Hurley on what’s made Clingan so much better. “Getting in the shape he’s gotten himself in. When you play against Adama Sanogo every day in practice since June, he’s going to improve and get better. He’s alive out there, he’s a competitive kid. He’s a joy to coach.”
Karaban put up another impressive effort, putting up 19 points and four boards. The outing broke his previous career-high by seven points as he continues to demonstrate why he is so deserving of the starting power forward spot.
“I thought I played well out there,” Karaban mentioned. “I know I didn’t play well against Oklahoma State or Florida, so I wanted to bounce back and get my confidence up going into Big East play against Butler.”
Jordan Hawkins continued his torrid shooting, lighting up LIU for 22 points on 6-9 from deep. The past few games the sophomore has been on fire, finally starting to live up to some of the potential that was promised when he committed.
The Huskies won the tip and that was the last time the game was competitive. On the opening play, Newton fired a pass into Jackson, who threw down a back-scratching dunk. Karaban hit a three, but the Sharks fired back with five unanswered points. A Hawkins corner three and a pretty layup highlighted a 12-2 Connecticut run, forcing an early LIU timeout. Jackson got into the passing lane and stole the ball, spinning around the LIU defender and throwing it down for an early poster. Calcaterra and Hawkins each added threes and the run was up to 20-2.
Hawkins nailed a three and then flung a pass into Donovan Clingan, who flushed it. Newton found the freshman on the next play for another dunk and the Huskies were rolling up 33-12. Karaban splashed another deep ball and got inside for a tough shot, increasing his total to 13 in just the half.
Sanogo added four of his own and UConn was in the midst of another 11-0 run. Clingan took the ball in the low post and spun around the LIU defender and then slammed the ball in. On the last play of the half, Clingan inched his total up to 17 with a monster putback dunk with a second left. His effort was a large reason the Huskies were up 62-27 just halfway into the contest.
Hawkins stuck another triple, but Quion Burns answered with one of his own. Sanogo got a few to go in the post and Hawkins rolled off a screen for a long ball. Clingan and Karaban each rattled in thunderous slams and although they were showing less effort on defense, it was not a game. Another Clingan dunk from a Hawkins no-look pass finished this one out, with Connecticut winning by 53 points.
The performance continues to prove why the Huskies are ranked at the top of the nation, with this game never in doubt. They’ll get a break for finals week before they start Big East conference play against Butler in a week.
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