STORRS, Conn. — Donovan Clingan scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead a balanced attack as No. 3 UConn clinched its first outright Big East regular season title in 25 years on Sunday with a 91-61 win over Seton Hall.
Freshman Stephon Castle tied his career high with 21 points and Tristen Newton had 17 points and 10 assists for the Huskies (26-3, 16-2 Big East), who finished this season undefeated at home (16-0). Alex Karaban added 13 points.
Dre Davis scored 20 points and Kadare Richmond scored 15 as Seton Hall (18-11, 11-7), which remained in fourth place in the Big East by losing, moved one game behind Villanova and onto the NCAA bubble. Championship berth.
UConn shot 56% from the floor and outscored the Buccaneers 52-30 in the paint.
Davis scored 12 points in the first 10 minutes and 16 points in the first half for Seton Hall. His three-point play on a layup sparked a 7-0 run to give the Buccaneers an 18-14 lead.
But UConn responded with a 15-2 run, highlighted by a steal and one of several highlight reel shots from Castle.
A floater in the lane from Karapan put the Huskies ahead by 15 points at the break, and they outscored Seton Hall 47-32 in the second half.
The Huskies previously won all of their regular season home games in 2005-06, when they finished 16-0. This was the same season in which the program won a share of the Big East’s most recent regular season titles. They have not won the title outright since 1999.
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