In what was one of the most impressive defensive showings for the UConn men’s basketball team, the UConn men’s basketball team got the job done against the Northwestern Wildcats, moving on to the Sweet Sixteen by a score of 75-58.
Things started out just as the Huskies had hoped for, and it all started with their defense. Going into the matchup, the squad had the tough task of locking down a tough matchup in Boo Buie and remarkably, Connecticut almost made it look too easy. To put into perspective how impressive their defense was against Buie, the talented guard didn’t get his first bucket until just 1:22 to go in the first half. Talk about a masterclass.
But, from the jump, that incredible defense fueled their fiery offense. Fans had to look no further than Donovan Clingan to see how this team benefited on both ends of the court. Connecticut’s man in the middle had a double-double before the first half even concluded and gave his squad plenty of momentum going into the half. Not only was he a beast on the boards and in the paint, but the Bristol native also had a notable block party to the dismay of the Wildcats.
On top of the work that Clingan was doing on both ends of the floor, Stephon Castle was a big spark for the play of the Huskies. The star freshman put on a show, locking down Buie and having one of the most memorable buckets of the game with an and-one conversion that energized his entire team.
Beyond just Buie, Northwestern widely struggled to put the ball in the basket. Other than 8 points from Nick Martinelli at a 50% rate, the Huskies stifled Chris Collins and Co. on the defensive end.
Going into the second half, Connecticut had a 40-18 lead despite shooting a poor 2-11 from beyond the arc.
Yet, the positives heavily outweighed the negatives, with Connecticut having a 21-15 rebound advantage and a 13-3 assist difference compared to Northwestern. That meant the confidence of Dan Hurley’s squad never wavered as they aimed to move on to their second straight Sweet Sixteen appearance. As the National Championship coach once proudly proclaimed, “Foot on the gas.”
It was simply more of the same at the start of the second half for UConn. The lead would balloon to as high as 30 by the 13:27 mark and shortly after, the team would sub out Castle. However, some issues would shortly arise and the Wildcats began to go on a run as their offense began to surge. While the Huskies still had a sizable lead, it would minimize to as low as 16 after a Buie free throw.
However, all hope would shortly fizzle for the Wildcats and the Huskies got back on track. After Castle got subbed back into the contest, Connecticut seeminhly looked like things returned to normal. Following some big buckets from the reigning Big East Freshman of the Year and Alex Karaban, the team closed out the win in Brooklyn and clinched a spot in the Sweet Sixteen.
“We were obviously thrilled with the performance, and to get that separation, you know, while going 3 for 22 from three. And a handful of those were contested but obviously, we didn’t shoot it great, and to still win by that margin, obviously, it spoke to our defense and obviously the 20 assists on 29 field goals,” said Dan Hurley following the win.
While Connecticut’s defense did falter a bit toward the end of the second half and caused the Wildcats to improve their field goal shooting to a solid 53.7%, it was still fantastic overall. The team took a group approach toward silencing Northwestern’s guards and ultimately were successful in doing so. Electric scorers like Buie were held to just 9 points on the night and although both Brooks Barnhizer and Ryan Langborg were effective, it wasn’t enough to uplift the team’s overall performance.
“We know he has the ball in his hand like 95% of the time and he plays the whole game. Steph and Hass took it personal that they had to stop him. They wanted him to score zero field goals. But, you know, he got one off a putback. But, they did a great job and stopped him and ended his career with a terrible game. So they did a great job down there,” said Newton.
Clingan echoed the same energy of his starting court teammate as the team has looked to continue their defensive intensity throughout the Tournament.
“Yeah, I feel like we all know what’s at stake. So you know, we all have to crank up our offense and defense. You know, if you want to win games and try to reach our ultimate goal, you’ve got to play the best defense you possibly can,” said the Bristol native.
Now, Connecticut is back in the Sweet Sixteen, one step closer to their goal of another trophy in Storrs. While the group has the tools to make that ambition a reality, they know that they’ll need to continue to stick to the process.
“It feels great. We have a big picture that we want to get to and we have to take it one step at a time. Getting to the Sweet 16 is another step to our main goal, and it feels good,” said Newton.