By Aidan Joly
The UConn express rolled on in Seattle on Friday night.
If there was ever a chance for a poor performance in the early portions of the season, it was this. A 3,000 mile trip to the west coast to face Gonzaga in a packed arena full of Bulldog fans and a 10 p.m. eastern start time. It seemed like an obvious spot for a stinker.
Instead, it only fueled the Huskies. Behind a star performance from Donovan Clingan, UConn eased its way to a 76-63 win. The dominant win marked the Huskies’ 27th non-conference win in 28 tries dating back to the beginning of last season and improves Dan Hurley’s squad to 10-1 on the season.
UConn never trailed in the game, with Clingan scoring eight points before the first media timeout. Each time Gonzaga went on a mini-run to cut it close, UConn always had an answer. The teams traded scores for a majority of the first half, but an 8-0 UConn run towards the end of the first half gave the Huskies an 11-point advantage at the break.
Gonzaga did get it down to as little as nine early in the second half, but the Huskies never wavered, leading by as many as 18 in the closing minutes of the contest.
It’s not like Gonzaga played poorly, per say. UConn had an answer for everything Mark Few’s squad threw at them. The three-ball wasn’t a big part of the offense early on, until Gonzaga started defending in the paint more. In response, UConn started taking threes and making them. The Huskies finished 7-17 from behind the arc for the game, to Gonzaga’s 2-12.
The aforementioned Clingan was clearly the best player on the court all night, finishing with 21 points on 8-11 from the field, while Cam Spencer was a threat from all areas of the floor, finishing with a total of 15 points, nine of them from behind the three-point line. It was impressive stuff from Clingan, who has been playing through a foot injury all season and finally looked like the player that the Huskies hoped he would be this season.
Anton Watson led the Zags with 20 points.
Perhaps most impressive on the defensive end for UConn is that it took Gonzaga big man Graham Ike completely out of the game. He came in averaging 14.2 points per game, the leading mark on the team, but he was limited to five points on 2-5 from the field. It was just the second time this season he has been limited to under 11 points. Nolan Hickman was limited to single digits (8) for just the second time this season as well.
What else can you say about this UConn team? Last season, it was obviously the most explosive group in the country on offense and looks to be right back towards the top this season. Heading into Saturday’s games, UConn ranks third in KenPom in offensive efficiency, trailing just Alabama and Baylor.
The championship pedigree was there all season last year and it sure looks to be back this season. College basketball has not had a back-to-back national champion since Joakim Noah, Taurean Green, Al Horford and Corey Brewer led Billy Donovan’s Florida Gators to back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007. Before that, you have to go all the way back to Duke going back-to-back in 1991 and 1992.
Right now, it seems like the only reason to bet against UConn is that the defending national champion tends to not do well in the NCAA tournament the next season. Villanova won two championships in three years in 2016 and 2018, but wedged a round of 32 exit between them in 2017. Butler was in the national title game in back-to-back years in 2010 and 2011, but lost both times. That’s the closest we’ve gotten.
But if there’s a squad out there that can give us a back-to-back champ for the first time in nearly two decades, it’s these Huskies.
AJ Hoops 