UConn wins 1st Big East tourney title considering that 2011
Mar 16, 2024, 09:14 PM ET
NEW YORK– UConn Huskies coach Dan Hurley rose with “New York, New york city” playing in Madison Square Garden– or as he calls it, “Storrs South.”
Hurley, who’s from New Jersey, clipped the last piece of web off the rim, discharge a “Wooooo!” as he whirled it over his head and then tapped the Big East indication on the backboard before making his method back down.Hurley and his defending national champions have eyes on even larger prizes this March, but make no error, winning the Big East competition was a big offer for the Huskies.Donovan Clingan had 22 points and a career-best
16 rebounds, Jaylin Stewart offered No. 2 UConn an unforeseen increase with three second-half 3-pointers throughout a definitive surge, and the Huskies beat No. 10 Marquette 73-57 on Saturday night to win the competition for the first time because 2011.” MSG, Big East competition, there’s absolutely nothing like it,”Hurley stated.”There’s simply no contrast anywhere to what this location is like.”Tournament MVP Tristen Newton included 13 points and 10 helps as the top-seeded Huskies won their 8th title, matching Georgetown for the most in conference history. It was their first because 2011, when Kemba Walker led UConn to five wins in 5 days at The Garden– and after that a nationwide title.Stewart, a freshman who was balancing 2.4 points off the bench, scored nine in
about 4 minutes as UConn(31-3 )retreated from a gritty Marquette team playing without injured star Tyler Kolek(oblique)for a 6th straight game.Kam Jones led the third-seeded Golden Eagles (25-9), the protecting competition champs, with 13 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists.On a night when the Huskies had a hard time from the boundary, they relied on the 7-foot-2 Clingan inside. The Connecticut native was 7-for-12 from the field and, as the final seconds checked off the clock, the sophomore huge man waved on hyped-up Huskies fans who packed the Midtown Manhattan arena.” It indicates everything, “Clingan said. “This was one of our goals at the start of the season, so to finish it indicates a lot.” 2 years after UConn’s last Big East tournament title, the league separated, and the Huskies opted for the
football schools to form the American Athletic Conference, where they won another championship game in 2014– and then fell off.UConn returned to the Big East in 2020-21 and to nationwide prominence. The Huskies won their fifth NCAA title last year, however the conference competition champion had actually avoided Hurley’s group. UConn had not even reached the final in its very first three seasons back in the Big East.Hurley rattled off all his group has actually achieved in the last year as he accepted the prize Saturday night and informed the crowd: “But we ain’t done yet. “UConn improved to 8-3 in Big East finals and 7-0 at MSG this season.As typical, UConn fans loaded The Garden, and for the second straight night Marquette dealt with a road-game environment. The Golden Eagles conquered a raucous Providence crowd in a rugged semifinal Friday night.”Today was rough for sure,”stated David
Joplin, who had 12 points and 6 rebounds in the Golden Eagles’lowest-scoring game of the season by 12 points. “We have actually got an excellent team, and we’ve got a great opportunity to play well in the [
NCAA] tournament, and that’s all you require is an opportunity.”Two of the nation’s best teams played some of the ugliest 9 minutes of basketball you can possibly imagine to start the game.At the 2nd media timeout, the score was connected at 4, and the Golden Eagles and Huskies had a combined 3 of 22 from the flooring. The defense was aggressive and physical, but it was
likewise hard to track simply how many point-blank shots rolled off the rim.Things picked up from there, and Newton swished a 3-pointer with 3 seconds left in the very first half to give UConn a 26-24 lead at the break.The shots began falling in the second half for both teams, and UConn started asserting itself with about 10 minutes left, led by Stewart.The Huskies went on a 19-5 run and led 60-44 with 5:54 remaining when Hassan Diarra made a corner 3.”I thought we ran out of steam there probably in the last 10 minutes,”Marquette coach Shaka Smart stated.”Donovan Clingan was the most significant distinction.”Stewart keyed UConn’s surge with his long-range shooting. He entered the game just 6-for-30 from 3-point range on the season.”Biggest shots of my life,”
Stewart stated.”It was electric in there.” The Associated Press contributed to this story.