Donovan Clingan scored 17 points as part of a double-double as No. 1 UConn cruised to an 81-53 victory over No. 4 Marquette on Saturday afternoon in Hartford, Conn.
Clingan also snatched 10 rebounds as the Huskies (24-2, 14-1 Big East) won their 14th consecutive game. Tristen Newton flirted with a triple-double (15 points, eight rebounds, eight assists) for UConn, which also got 14 points apiece from Cam Spencer and Hassan Diarra.
Kam Jones finished with a team-high 15 points for the Golden Eagles (19-6, 10-4). Oso Ighodaro supplied 14 points, but reigning Big East Player of the Year Tyler Kolek was held to just 7 on 2-of-11 shooting.
The Huskies outshot Marquette 46 percent to 36.8 percent overall. UConn went 11-for-30 from beyond the arc (36.7 percent), while the Golden Eagles made just 5 of 23 shots from long range (21.7 percent).
Jones had Marquette within 16 with 10:05 left in the game after drilling a 3-pointer, but Newton answered with back-to-back treys to make it 65-43.
The Golden Eagles trailed by at least 20 the rest of the way, falling into a 29-point hole following a late 11-2 burst by the Huskies that included 3-pointers from Alex Karaban and Spencer.
Neither team led by more than two until Diarra drained a triple to provide UConn with a 14-10 edge with 13:07 left in the first half.
Marquette drew even at 16-all thanks to a pair of free throws and a jumper from Stevie Mitchell, but the Huskies soon took control with an 11-2 run, going up 27-18 with 5:39 remaining.
Kolek and Chase Ross sandwiched a Spencer layup with 3-pointers to cut the Golden Eagles’ deficit to 29-24, but UConn scored the next 13 points — getting seven from Newton — before taking a 42-26 advantage into the break.
Marquette saw an eight-game winning streak come to an end.
–Field Level Media