STORRS, Conn. – Top-ranked UConn welcomed star center Donovan Clingan back from injury Wednesday and used stifling defense to beat No. 18 Creighton 62-48.
Tristen Newton scored 16 points for the Huskies (16-2, 6-1 Big East), who were playing their first game at the No. 1 seed since 2009. Cam Spencer and Alex Karaban each scored 13 points, with all of Karaban's scores The second half came.
Clingan, a 7-foot-2 sophomore, came off the bench to score six points and grab five rebounds in 16 minutes.
Steven Ashworth led Creighton (13-5, 4-3) with 14 points. Baylor Scheierman, who came into the game averaging 18 points per game, added 12.
UConn dominated from deep, outscoring Creighton 36-20 in the paint and outrebounding it 48-32.
“We were just tough,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said. “We were tough in the Big East.”
The Huskies led by 11 points at the half and used a 9-0 run to take a 41-23 lead early in the second half.
An alley-oop dunk from Stephon Castle to Clingan gave the Huskies their first 20-point lead at 48-28.
The Bluejays used an 18-8 run to cut the lead to 10 points on a 3-pointer by Scheierman with 2½ minutes left.
Clingan, who has missed the last five games with a tendon injury in his right foot, came into the game with 11:42 left in the first half and the score tied at 12.
The Huskies scored the next seven points, part of a 14-2 run that gave them a 23-14 lead.
Clingan got his first block with just under five minutes left in the half and his first basket on a putback with just over four minutes left. The Huskies outscored the Bluejays 15-4 when in the game in the first half.
“It felt good to just go out there and wrestle with the guys in front of the home crowd,” Clingan said. “Just to get that win, it was a big win for us and it felt great.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
