It was Connecticut’s second straight slow start, but Donovan Clingan and company made sure the result ended in their favor for the fifth straight game.
Thursday afternoon in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals, ninth-seeded Xavier jumped out to a 10-0 lead over the defending national champions.
The Huskies responded but led by only one at halftime en route to what became an 87-60 UConn win.
Clingan, UConn’s 7-foot-2 sophomore center, was largely limited in the first half, scoring just two points on 1-for-3 shooting.
“I was just out there trying to find any way possible to help my team,” he said about his first-half performance, which included three rebounds and two assists. “Whether that’s defending the rim, defending the paint, sharing the ball, rebounding, whatever I have to do. I wasn’t playing my game offensively in the first half.
Clingan — a potential lottery pick if he turns pro this spring — remained quiet to begin the second half, but once UConn took a 10-point lead, he caught fire to put the game away.
The big man scored 11 straight points for the Huskies, kicking off a 20-4 run that buried Xavier.
Clingan credited his teammates for his scoring run, saying they found him when he was open.
“I saw the lulls, and when I’m sitting in pin downs, releasing to the rim was open because they were hedging ball screens and jumping out at the shooters,” said Clingan, who finished with 13 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two blocks. “For me to see my guy jumping out, to slip to the rim and roll, it was really helping me, and my teammates were finding me when I was open and they put me in the position to score the ball. It’s all because of my teammates.”
UConn coach Danny Hurley also noticed Clingan step up his game in the second half.
“He’s a gentle giant, you know. He’s a Jolly Green Giant,” Hurley said. “Sometimes he’s to get that intensity level up, get that nastiness. He’s such a sweetheart of a guy. And, yeah, he turned it up and got pissed off.”
The Huskies will play fifth-seeded St. John’s in the semifinals Friday.
UConn has not made it to a Big East Tournament final since rejoining the conference, losing in the semifinals three straight years by a combined eight points.