UConn Hoops: Huskies improve win streak to 11, outlast Butler
One element that differentiates the good teams from the great ones is depth. While having an excellent starting lineup is immensely important towards the ultimate goal of winning a national championship, it is arguably just as critical to have a deep set of players who fill in as needed. Because you never know who will be off on any given night.
On Tuesday in the Insurance Capital of the World, the top-ranked UConn men’s basketball team needed all of their depth in a 71-62 victory over Butler. With All-America hopeful Tristen Newton shaken up, Stephon Castle off and Alex Karaban still recovering from his injury, the Huskies needed others to step up in a big way. And one person in particular did.
The most notable instance was Hassan Diarra, who was a massive player in Connecticut’s first half surge. He made a number of tough shots—and hit three free throws en route to his nine points in the opening frame. None of his totals will wow anyone, but the energy he brought as Newton was gimpy throughout was immeasurable. Diarra doesn’t always bring the same things but has stepped up this season when needed.
“Has was great man,” UConn coach Dan Hurley noted. “We’d be looking at a tie game at the half without him. Bizarre things were happening. Has made some great plays defensively, he drove it and made plays.”
Throughout the matchup, Butler tried time and again to fight back, but the Huskies held strong. A push to cut it to five late kept the heart rate of UConn fans high, but that’s the nature of the Big East.
“That was the game we expected,” Hurley said. “We knew it was going to be a dogfight. Big credit to Butler. What [coach] Thad [Matta] is doing there, they’re going to be a tough team to beat down the line. We won it with our defense, we felt like there was a lid on the bucket for us. It was one of those games, you lead by 10, 12, but we led all the way.”
Matta had similar thoughts about the defensive nature of the contest.
“We can’t go 4/18 from three,” Matta mentioned. “I thought we had some really good shots. They made us miss because of their length. It’s hard to shoot over their size. I thought our guys kept fighting. Every time you make a mistake defensively, they make you pay.”
Donovan Clingan, who has not had the campaign he likely envisioned, finally had a great outing. The 7-foot-2 big man needed just 12 shots to get 18 points and 14 boards to go along with three blocks. He looked like he was in-sync with his teammates and was hitting the shots that made him a preseason pick to get drafted in the lottery. More nights like this one will be big for the center as he looks to make it to the next level and take UConn back-to-back.
“He was tremendous,” Hurley noted of Clingan. “They didn’t have many answers for him. When he rolled, he created opportunities. He impacts everything. It was great to see him produce like that and be a dominant big.”
Clingan indicated that he came in with a different mentality—and it helped his performance.
“I wasn’t happy with my last two performances,” he said. “I went in with a better mindset today. I wanted to kill my opponent and get the win.”
As solid as Clingan was on the glass for stretches, UConn’s overall performance wasn’t great from a rebounding standpoint.
“Disappointed in the rebounding in the first half” Hurley noted. “That was bad. Maybe some of it is four games in nine days. That was bad in a tough league. We were flat for stretches. It felt like the league was mad at us there.”
While Newton didn’t have his finest night, he still looked the part of the best player on the best team in the nation. Down the stretch he converted on some big opportunities to keep the Bulldogs out of reach. And he did it on a hobbled leg. It may not wow voters looking at him for their All-America ballots on paper, but watching the game, it’s impossible to ignore what he brings to the Huskies.
“Tristen had a tough night, but he was clutch,” Hurley mentioned. “The threes, the free throws. Steph took a step back. It was going so well for him, you let your guard down a little. When you have a starting five that can each get 20 a game and a guy like Has, [you can afford an off night].”
Another impactor not fully healthy was Karaban. Hurley discussed postgame how much the team needs Karaban, even going as far as to compare himself to Linus from Charlie Brown and Karaban to his blanket.
As influential as any Huskies were above, no man did more for this win than Cam Spencer. The graduate student had a sensational effort, hitting shot after shot and setting his teammates up. He made all the winning plays that a team needs from their fifth year, proving his value. Hurley described him and Spencer as the “perfect marriage” postgame—with apologies to his wife Andrea—because of how similarly they view the game and care about winning.
“He just is so efficient,” Hurley noted of Spencer. “20 points on 12 shots. Got five defensive rebounds. Two steals. I think he’s right up there with the best players in the league.”
Connecticut wasted no time getting to work, as Spencer nailed a jumper on the first possession and Clingan contributed a pair of layups. Butler began to settle into their offense after missing their first four tries, closing the gap to two.
Though they never got ahead, the Bulldogs did their best to keep up with UConn, but the fastbreak effort was too much to handle. Diarra got inside for a layup and then sent a pass that hobbled its way to Spencer, who splashed a triple.
A series of layups helped Butler cut the lead to three, just in time for the Huskies to break the game open. They went on an 11-2 run, with nine coming from Spencer and Clingan to lead by 12. Tristen Newton was shaken up during it but was able to return before the half finished.
DJ Davis was the only one doing anything for the visitors at the end of the half, the lone Bulldog to score after the under-four timeout. He carried them to an eight-point deficit going into the locker room, which was impressive given the circumstances.
Davis continued his excellence with the first five points of the second half, cutting UConn’s lead to three. Five straight from the Huskies was a sufficient answer, as the Bulldogs kept knocking on the door. XL Center nearly exploded as Spencer tossed an alley-oop to Samson Johnson, who delivered a massive throwdown.
Butler’s Andre Screen responded with a flush of his own, but it was Castle who delivered on a huge sequence. In what were his first points of the game the freshman finished on an and-one and then tipped in Diarra’s miss, pushing the advantage to 10.
Even as the Bulldogs tried to muscle their way back into things, UConn didn’t budge. Spencer hit a three in rhythm, Newton stepped back for one of his own and just like that, the Huskies were up by nine. A key Clingan and-one and a deep shot from Karaban put the game fully to rest though, as Connecticut picked up a nine-point win.
With four games in nine days behind them, UConn will enjoy the rest of the week—and all the shuteye they can get.
“I’m going to sleep well tonight,” Clingan joked.
The Huskies head to D.C. this weekend to play Georgetown as they look to push their streak further.
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