By JIMMY GOLEN (AP Sports Editor)
BOSTON — Thirty points in a row — that’s quite a streak.
The NCAA tournament streak that UConn is putting together is also pretty impressive.
The defending national champions scored 30 straight points to return to the Final Four on Saturday night, beating Illinois 77-52 – a March Madness record 10th straight double-digit win for the top-seeded Huskies.
Donovan Clingan had 22 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots, and UConn scored the first 25 points of the second half to turn a five-point lead into a blowout. The Huskies, who won their fifth national title last year, seem inexorably headed for a sixth: Their NCAA Tournament wins this year have been by 39, 17, 30 and 25 points.
“We’re going to be tough to beat,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said. “We were playing at a special level of basketball.”
Actor Bill Murray, whose son, Luke, is an assistant coach for the Huskies, watched the game from a courtside seat and filmed the postgame celebration, during which his grandchildren were covered in confetti. “Curb Your Enthusiasm” star Larry David was also part of a heavily partisan crowd the Huskies (35-3) called “Storrs North” for East Region games that were played to about 90 miles from campus.
UConn, which won the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden and advanced to the Sweet 16 in Brooklyn, will now board a plane for the first time in nearly a month and head to the Final Four at the outside of Phoenix. It will face West Region champion Alabama, which advanced with an 89-82 victory over Clemson later Saturday night.
The Huskies, who set a school record for wins in a season, are the first defending champions to return to the national semifinals since Florida won back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007.
That’s also a possibility for UConn.
“It’s not really about trying to win 6th place or come back in a row,” Hurley said. “It’s that time of year, you love your team and you can’t imagine what it would be like to not get up the next day and continue to coach your team. That’s what you learn when you win like we won: it’s really about the work, the journey, the process.
Marcus Domask scored 17 points – 15 in the first half – for Illinois (29-9), and star Terrence Shannon Jr. was held to eight points on 2-of-12 shooting. Shannon, who scored 29 points in Thursday night’s Sweet 16 win over Iowa State and played much of the season while facing a rape charge at Kansas, ended a streak of 41 consecutive games with a score two digits.
Illinois, which had the nation’s most efficient offense this season, shot 25 percent (17 of 67) and scored a season-low 52 points.
Cam Spencer had his first career double-double, scoring 11 points with 12 rebounds for UConn, which reached the Elite Eight with a 30-point win over San Diego State on Thursday night. Hassan Diarra scored 11 and Alex Karaban 10 points for the Huskies.
But the big problem for third-seeded Illinois was the 7-foot-2 Clingan.
The Fighting Illini (29-9) managed just four points in the first half when Clingan was in the game, with the Connecticut native recording nine points, six rebounds and three blocks before the break. Overall, they were 0 of 19 on shots contested by Clingan.
“We had the same shots we always had, and Clingan erased a few,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. “He’s good. I mean, didn’t everyone project him in the (NBA) lottery or close to it? He does a great job protecting the rim.
The Illini suffered several long droughts, falling behind 9–0 and failing to score before the first media timeout; they were shut out again between the sub-12 minute break and the one that lasted less than 8 minutes, missing 11 shots in a row. Yet they only trailed 28-23 at halftime.
That’s when things really fell apart.
Illinois missed its first 14 shots of the second – 17 in a row, in all. UConn’s 30-0 run lasted the final 1:49 of the first half and the first 7:19 of the second.
“I did not expect that. But tons of credit to UConn,” Underwood said. “I thought we were in a good position at halftime, especially after a slow start. … We obviously came out in the second half and got blitzed.
By the time Clingan went on a break with 14:35 left, the Huskies led by 23. On Illinois’ next possession, Samson Johnson – who replaced Clingan – blocked Shannon under the basket and ended the break quick at the other end with a layup that gave UConn a 48-23 lead.
“It was like no shots were going in. And it was like they were coming out in transition and scoring every time,” Illinois forward Coleman Hawkins said. “You look up and you’re still 23.”
FOLLOWING
The national semifinals will take place April 6 in Glendale, Arizona. Alabama will make its first Final Four appearance.
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