UConn wins first outright Big East title because 1999

STORRS, Conn.– No. 3 UConn is the defending guys’s basketball nationwide champion. However, the Huskies had actually not won even a share of the Big East regular-season title in 18 years.Donovan Clingan scored 19 points and took down 11 rebounds to lead a well balanced attack, and Connecticut clinched its first outright Big East champion in 25 years Sunday with a 91-61 rout of Seton Hall.The group thought about the achievement huge enough to lower

the nets at Gampel Structure after the game.” The hardest thing to do is to be outstanding over the course of three, 4 months in a brutal, tough league,”said UConn coach Dan Hurley, who dipped into Seton Hall.Freshman Stephon Castle connected a profession high with 21 points and Tristen Newton had 17 points and

10 helps for the Huskies( 26-3, 16-2 Big East ), who finished this season undefeated in the house (16-0). Alex Karaban included 13 points.Dre Davis had 20 points and Kadary Richmond scored 15 to lead Seton Hall(18-11, 11-7), which remains in 4th location in the

Big East with the loss, a game ahead of Villanova.UConn, which lost at Seton Hall by 15 points in December, shot 56%from the flooring, outscored the Pirates 52-30 in the paint, outrebounded them 38-26 and scored 24 points off 11 Seton Hall turnovers.”I seem like our defense truly went to the next level,”said Clingan, who missed five games after suffering a best foot injury throughout the loss in New Jersey.

“Coach has truly stressed simply attempting to deal with our defense, just attempting to actually secure the ball at a high level, rebound the ball at a high level.”Editor’s Picks 2 Associated Davis had 12 points in the very first 10 minutes and 16 points in the first half for Seton Hall. His three-point play on a layup triggered a 7-0 run that gave the Pirates

an 18-14 lead.But UConn reacted with a 15-2 run, highlighted by a take and one of a number of highlight-reel dunks from Castle.A floater in the lane from Karaban put the Huskies up by 15 points at intermission and the Huskies outscored Seton Hall 47-32 in the second half.The Huskies formerly won all of their regular-season home games back in 2005-06, when they finished 16-0 in the league. That was the exact same season the program won a share of its newest Big East regular-season title.”We feel it’s harder to win the Big East than the national championship, “Newton said.The Pirates, selected to finish ninth in the conference’s preseason poll, stay on the bubble for an NCAA competition berth, but it was a difficult week. According to ESPN Statistics & Information research, Seton Hall authored successive losses by 20-plus points for first time considering that 2008-09, having lost by 21 at No. 12 Creighton on Wednesday.Pirates coach Shaheen Holloway did not talk to reporters or make his players offered after the game. They entered Sunday as one of Joe Lunardi’s last 4 groups in the tournament.The Associated Press added to this report.