National Basketball Association
Connecticut 76, Gonzaga 63
When: 10:00 PM ET, Friday, December 15, 2023
Where: Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, Washington
Officials:
# Kipp Kissinger, # Gregory Nixon, # Jeff Anderson
Attendance:
16405
By Field Level Media
Donovan Clingan led all players with 21 points and eight rebounds as No. 5 UConn never trailed in defeating No. 10 Gonzaga 76-63 Friday night in the Continental Tire Seattle Tip-Off.
Cam Spencer scored 15 points for the Huskies (10-1) in a rematch of last season's NCAA Tournament West Regional final, which UConn won 82-54 in Las Vegas. Alex Karaban added 11 points and Tristen Newton and Hassan Diarra scored nine apiece in a balanced attack. Newton dished out a game-high five assists, the same total as the entire Gonzaga team.
It was the second loss to a team nicknamed the Huskies in Seattle in less than a week for the Bulldogs (8-3), who dropped a 78-73 decision on Dec. 9 at Washington.
Anton Watson led Gonzaga with 20 points and Ryan Nembhard added 15. Graham Ike, the Bulldogs' leading scorer, was limited to five points on 2-of-5 shooting.
UConn built a 45-34 halftime lead by making 7 of 9 3-point attempts.
Clingan scored the game's first four points in the paint and had eight in the first 3 1/2 minutes as the Huskies built an 11-4 lead.
UConn led 23-20 with 8:38 left in the half before Spencer scored 13 points over the next 5:44, including three 3-pointers. His trey with 2:54 left put the Huskies up 40-32, and they extended their lead to as many as 13 points before the intermission.
Nembhard made a layup on Gonzaga's opening possession of the second half, but Newton answered with a jumper in the paint and the Huskies led by double digits the rest of the way.
Karaban's jumper in the paint extended the lead to 56-38 with 16:27 left, the Huskies' largest lead of the night.
The Bulldogs trimmed the lead to 68-58 with 4:04 left before Clingan scored on an alley-oop dunk off a pass from Diarra as UConn regained momentum.
UConn shot 55.8 percent from the field (29 of 52) while limiting Gonzaga to 39 percent (23 of 59), including just 2 of 12 from 3-point range.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Connecticut |
|
Gonzaga |
|
Donovan Clingan 21 |
Scoring |
Anton Watson 20 |
|
Tristen Newton 5 |
Assists |
Nolan Hickman 3 |
|
Donovan Clingan 8 |
Rebounds |
Ryan Nembhard 6 |
|
Donovan Clingan 5 |
Free Throws Made |
Anton Watson 7 |
|
Cam Spencer 3 |
Steals |
Nolan Hickman 1 |
|
Donovan Clingan 2 |
Blocks |
Nolan Hickman 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Connecticut
|
76 |
55.8 |
7-17 |
11-15 |
16 |
25 |
5 |
7 |
9 |
| Gonzaga
|
63 |
39.0 |
2-12 |
15-21 |
5 |
28 |
3 |
4 |
11 |