Clingan leads top-ranked UConn to its 11th straight win, 71-62 over Butler

Donovan Clingan had 18 points and 14 rebounds Tuesday night to lead top-ranked UConn to its 11th straight win, 71-62 over Butler.

Cam Spencer added 20 points for the Huskies (21-2, 11-1 Big East).

DJ Davis scored 21 points and Jahmyl Telfort had 17 for Butler (15-8, 6-6), which entered on a four-game winning streak.

The Huskies never trailed and led by 14 in the first half. But an 11-0 run by the Bulldogs that stretched into the second half cut it to 35-32 shortly after the break.

Connecticut extended the lead back to 44-35 after a steal and layup by Tristen Newton, and it was 49-40 after a highlight-reel, alley-oop dunk from Spencer to Samson Johnson.

Butler trimmed the margin to 63-58 on a corner 3-pointer from Pierre Brooks, but an offensive rebound and three-point play from Clingan pushed the advantage back to eight with just under two minutes to play.

The Huskies scored the first six points, four on little hook shots in the lane from Clingan, who had 12 points in the first half.

UConn took its first double-digit lead at 28-18 after a 3-pointer by Spencer, who also had a dozen first-half points.

Hassan Diarra scored all nine of his points off the bench in the first half, including three free throws that made it 35-21.

But then Butler scored the final six points of the period, three of them on Davis’ corner jumper just before the halftime buzzer.

BIG PICTURE

Butler: Came in averaging a conference-best 81.6 points per game, but was held to 37% shooting by the Huskies. The Bulldogs made just four of their 18 attempts from 3-point range.

UConn: The Huskies are 13-0 at home this season and have won their last 17 home games, a streak that stretches back to January 2023.

UP NEXT

Butler: Heads home to host Providence on Saturday.

UConn: Travels to Washington to face Georgetown on Saturday.