NEW YORK, NY — The UConn Huskies are many things. They are the reigning and defending NCAA Men’s Basketball Champions, the 2023-2024 BIG EAST Conference Regular Season Champions, and now, add in, this year’s BIG EAST Conference Tournament Kings.
On Saturday night, as confetti poured and soared through the Madison Square Garden air, with UConn, getting officially crowned BIG EAST Tournament Kings — after defeating the Marquette Golden Eagles in the Championship game, 73-57 — Huskies head coach Dan Hurley shouted to his players, and coaching staff in joy and celebration on the post-championship trophy stage: “That’s how you do it. That’s how you do it.”
Throughout that moment, Hurley, also stopped to gather and collect some of the championship confetti, then followed up to the MSG crowd, and all of those watching from home, by stating the importance of what the UConn Men’s Basketball program just achieved: “Amazing group of Huskies now, you got players that have accomplished everything that you can in College Basketball.”
“The guys like Tristen Newton, Alex Karaban, Donovan Clingan, Samson Johnson, Hassan Diarra, Andrew Hurley, Andre Johnson Jr. — They got a Final Four. They got a National Championship. They’ve won the regular season BIG EAST. And now they got the BIG EAST Tournament Championship. But we ain’t done, right?”
Huskies head coach Dan Hurley cuts down the net at Madison Square Garden, in celebration of UConn winning their eighth BIG EAST Tournament in program history, tying a BIG EAST record + UConn’s first since 2011 + Hurley’s first in his coaching career – Image Credit: Latino Sports
Not done whatsoever, and in actuality, I, like many others, believe, this is just the start of something that can potentially encapsulate the Sports World…
Standing with a 31-3 overall record, before we head into the pinnacle of March Madness — the NCAA Tournament, which is set to begin next Thursday, the Huskies are the best, and most lethal College Basketball team in the nation, proving it time-in-and-time-out this season. Labeled a NBA-like bunch, who dissect their opponents’ weaknesses, and grind them down throughout the course of 40 minutes, while on the opposite end, recording shooting clips that rank in the top-five across the country (49.7% from the field, as a team — currently ranks fifth in all of Men’s College Basketball.)
Those are this year’s UConn Huskies.
Graduate student guard Tristen Newton named the winner of the Dave Gavitt Trophy (Most Outstanding Player of the BIG EAST Tournament). In the BIG EAST Tourney Championship game, Newton dropped 13 points with 10 assists, and 5 boards – Image Credit: Latino Sports
Oh, and 31 wins on the year is the same number of victories UConn amassed to last season, which ended with the Huskies raising the March Madness Naismith Trophy, at NRG Stadium, in Houston, Texas.
With all that said, the most-recent NCAA Men’s Basketball champion to go back-to-back were the Florida Gators in 2006-2007 — just one of seven occasions where we have witnessed a repeat champion in NCAA Men’s Basketball history.
“We’ve been the best team in college basketball,” stated Hurley in the BIG EAST Tournament Championship postgame press conference. “Obviously March Madness next week, who knows what goes on there, but we’ve clearly been the best program in the country this year.”
The Donovan Clingan Game
Donovan Clingan, a projected NBA lottery selection in this year’s upcoming June draft, put his name amongst basketball legends on Saturday night, finishing with 22 points (7-12 FG, 8-11 FT), to pair to 16 boards, two assists, two blocks, and a steal — his eighth double-double in his two-year collegiate career.
Donovan Clingan with AUTHORITY! 😤@clingan_donovan x @UConnMBB pic.twitter.com/ww0wGJ8vTy
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) March 16, 2024
The 7-2 sophomore, from Bristol, Connecticut, became the first player to have a 20-point-15-rebound double-double in a BIG EAST Title game since Patrick Ewing did so in 1984 with Georgetown — Ewing recorded 27 points and 16 rebounds against Syracuse in the 1984 BIG EAST Tournament Final. Clingan’s 16 rebound performance also matched Ewing for the most-ever in a BIG EAST Tournament Championship game.
“To have my name against someone who played — who’s a legend really in basketball, in college basketball and even at the next level means a lot,” Clingan said on being in the same company as Ewing. “But I try not to let that stuff really get to my head.”
“I’m just out here trying to help my team win any way possible, and tonight I realized I had to attack the glass as best I can.”
Huskies center Donovan Clingan cuts part of the net, as UConn wins the BIG EAST Tournament, and celebrates at MSG – Image Credit: Latino Sports
Hurley on what the future has in store for his big-man Clingan: “He’s going to be a lottery pick coming up here in the very near future, but he never makes it about himself. He’s just about team. He’s got incredible personality. This guy next to me (Clingan) somehow finds himself still being an underrated player, which is incredible, because he’s going to be a 12 to 15-year NBA player – he’s one of the two or three most impactful players in college basketball.”
Storrs South
No. 2 UConn finished this season with a perfect 7-0 record in games played at “The World’s Most Famous Arena,” Madison Square Garden — including wins over Indiana, Texas, No. 4 North Carolina, St. John’s twice, Xavier, and No. 10 Marquette in the BIG EAST Tourney Final.
BIG EAST Tournament Final between No. 2 UConn and No. 10 Marquette at Madison Square Garden – Latino Sports
“7 and 0 in Storrs South this year, 7 and 0, — This is Storrs South,” Hurley shouted to the UConn crowd, as the Huskies celebrated on the MSG hardwood.
“Just a special team, a big target the whole year. There’s not a program in the country that played as well these guys did this year. It’s not even close.”
It’s UConn’s World 🌎🏆🏀
The UConn Huskies win the 2024 @BIGEASTMBB Tournament Championship over Marquette, 73-57, at MSG. Champions of the BIG EAST Regular Season Title 👑, and now Champions of the BIG EAST Tournament 👑#LatinoSports #CollegeHoops #BigEastTournament pic.twitter.com/ymjv1bTtzp
— Latino Sports (@LatinoSports) March 17, 2024
Robert Rizzo is a journalist and editor of Latino Sports – Email: RobertRiz994@gmail.com
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