Top seed UConn went on a 30-0 run and dominated third seed Illinois 77-52 to win the East Region and advance to the Final Four. Donovan Clingan led the Huskies with 22 points, 10 rebounds, five blocks and three steals. UConn is heading to its seventh Final Four in program history.
Clingan got UConn off to a fast start, scoring the first seven points of the game. Illinois didn’t get on the board until Domask split a pair of free throws with 16 minutes left in the first half to make it 9-1. Illinois got within 15-13 on a Marcus Domask 3-pointer with 11:27 remaining, but points were few and far between for the remainder of the period.
The Huskies never fell behind, but they did give up the lead when Domask scored inside with 1:49 to go to tie things at 23-all. Hassan Diarra hit a 3-pointer and Tristen Newton sank a pair of free throws to send UConn into the break up 28-23. After that UConn scored 30 unanswered points and never looked back.
Connecticut is two wins away from becoming the first team to win back-to-back national championships since Florida did so in 2006-07.
Photo Credit- AP
