NEW YORK – Donovan Clingan finished two blocks shy of a triple-double Sunday night as defending national champion and top-seeded UConn posted another wire-to-wire win by beating ninth-seeded Northwestern 75-58 in an East Regional second-round game at Barclays Center.
UConn (33-3), the nation’s top-ranked team, will face the winner of Sunday night’s Yale-San Diego State game in the Sweet 16 Thursday night in Boston. The Huskies have won nine straight games, the longest active streak in the country.
Northwestern (22-12) lost in the second round for the third time in as many NCAA Tournament trips – all of which it has taken since 2017 under 11th-year head coach Chris Collins.
Clingan had 14 points, 14 rebounds and eight blocks while Tristen Newton (20 points, 10 assists) had a double-double for UConn, which has now won eight straight NCAA Tournament games by double figures. The Huskies haven’t trailed in either of its postseason victories this season after romping past 16th-seeded Stetson 91-59 on Friday.
Cam Spencer added 11 points for UConn, which was just 3 of 22 (13.6 percent) from 3-point land but shot 81.3 percent (26 of 32) from inside the arc.
Brooks Barnhizer scored 18 points while Ryan Langborg had 13 points for Northwestern, which shot just 37.3 percent (22-for-59), including 26.7 percent (4-for-15) from 3-point land.
Clingan had 12 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks alone in the first half for UConn, which scored the game’s first seven points two days after opening with an 8-0 run against Stetson.
On Sunday, the Huskies went ahead by double digits for good at 15-4 with 13:47 left and led by as many as 23 before ending the half with a 40-18 lead despite going 2-for-11 from 3-point land and not hitting a 3-pointer until Spencer drained a pull-up with 3:04 remaining.
UConn took a 30-point lead at 57-27 with 13:27 left, when Newton fed Samson Johnson for an alley-oop, before Northwestern ended the game on a 31-18 run. Barnhizer had 16 points in the surge for the Wildcats, who got as close as 16 points four times.
–Jerry Beach, Field Level Media