Clingan, UConn power back into Final Four
BOSTON — Defending national champion UConn powered its way back into the Final Four behind a 30-0 run led by Donovan Clingan, who finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds as the Huskies crushed Illinois 77-52 on Saturday night.
It was a March Madness record 10th straight double-digit victory for the Huskies, who cruised to their fifth national title last year and seem inexorably headed for a sixth.
Their NCAA Tournament wins this year have come by 39, 17, 30 and 25 points.
The top-seeded Huskies (35-3) will now get on an airplane for the first time in almost a month and head to the Final Four in Glendale, Arizona, where they will face the West Region champion, either Alabama or Clemson.
They are the first defending champions to make it back to the national semifinals since Florida won back-to-back titles in 2006 and ‘07.
That’s still a possibility for the Huskies, too.
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-of12 shooting. Shannon, who scored 29 points in Thursday night’s Sweet 16 victory over Iowa State, snapped a string of 41 straight games scoring in double digits.
Cam Spencer had 11 points and 12 rebounds, Hassan Diarra scored 11 and Alex Karaban had 10 points for UConn.
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 blocked shots before the break.
UConn led just 28-23 at the half, but then things really fell apart for the Illini. They missed their first 14 shots of the second — 17 misses in a row, in all — as the Huskies scored the first 25 points of the period.
The 30-0 UConn run lasted for the last 1:49 of the first half and the first 7:19 of the second.
By the time Clingan took a break with 14:35 to play, the Huskies led by 23. On the next Illinois possession, Samson Johnson — who subbed in for Clingan — blocked Shannon under the basket and finished the fast break at the other end with a layup that gave UConn a 48-23 lead.
The Huskies have a school-record 35 wins this season.
Alabama 89, Clemson 82: Mark Sears made seven 3-pointers and Alabama recovered from its early long-distance shooting woes with 16 3s, sending the Crimson Tide to the Final Four for the first time.
The Tide (25-11) will face defending national champion UConn in Glendale, Arizona, next Saturday. Alabama knocked off topseeded North Carolina to reach the Elite Eight.
Sears’ 3-pointers were one off his career high. He finished with 23 points. Freshman Jarin Stevenson airballed a 3 in the first half, when Alabama missed 12 of its first 13 from long range. He made a career-high five 3s and had 19 points off the bench.
Clemson (24-12) was seeking its first Final Four appearance, too, in the West Region final between two schools better known for their national championship football teams. Joseph
Girard III led Clemson with 19 points, and Ian Schieffelin had 18 points and 11 rebounds.
The Tide buried the Tigers in an avalanche of 10 3s in the second half to pull away. Sears hit a 3, turned and put his fingers to his lips. After he sank the Tide’s eighth 3 of the half, Sears playfully stuck out his tongue and nodded his head as he ran up the court.
Clemson had allowed only 14 3-pointers in its first three NCAA Tournament games.
The Tigers tried desperately to keep up from beyond the arc. While Sears was putting on a show, Girard, who struggled offensively in the regional semifinal, hit backto-back 3s and PJ Hall added another that left Clemson trailing 68-62.
Girard’s 3 cut Clemson’s deficit to 76-73. But Nick Pringle was in the midst of scoring eight in a row for the Tide, making 4 of 6 free throws down the stretch. He finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Sears stepped back left of the key and sank the Tide’s 10th 3 of the half for an 82-75 lead, drawing applause from Tide alum and seven-time NBA champion Robert “Big Shot Bob” Horry.