Rapid Recap: UConn handles SDSU, again
BOSTON — For the third time in three NCAA Tournament games, the UConn Huskies took care of business in a big way. The only difference this time was the quality of the opponent.
San Diego State is no slouch, it’s a top-25 caliber team with an elite defense. Despite seeing the first half go the Aztecs way in a lot of key areas, the Huskies were up nine at the halftime break on their way to a 30-point victory.
The hometown kid Alex Karaban got the Huskies going early with two quick threes but his shot cooled off the rest of the night. Cam Spencer and Tristen Newton picked up the slack at that point, as Spencer scored 16 of his 18 points in the first 20 minutes. Stephon Castle got going in the second half, scoring 11 of his 16 in the final 20 as he notched his first career double-double with a career-high 11 rebounds.
UConn (34-3) dominated the boards and even though threes were a little tough to come by, the Huskies were comfortably up double-digits through the second half as they crushed the soul of their opponents, once again.
UConn advances to its 13th Elite Eight, doing so for the first time in consecutive seasons since 1999. The Huskies also became the first defending champs to make the Elite Eight since the last defending champs, Florida in 2007.
Advanced Stats
OReb%: 55.3% (Their best performance in 37 games)
DReb%: 71% (27th)
Free Throw Rate: 37.0% (24th)
TO Rate: 17.6% (28th)
Assists/Made baskets: 57% (27th)
eFG%: 56.5% (23rd)
Box Scores
UConn
SDSU
Split
Win Probability & Game Flow
