University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Stetson University
Top-Seed Huskies Kick Off NCAA Tournament, Friday
3/21/2024 1:20:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BROOKLYN – The top overall seed UConn men's basketball team (31-3) begins its run in March Madness on Friday afternoon, taking on 16-seed Stetson (22-12) in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship. Tip-off from the Barclays Center is scheduled for approximately 2:45 p.m. and will air on CBS with Ian Eagle, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill and Tracy Wolfson on the call.
The Huskies are the reigning champs of the NCAA Tournament, dominating their way to the program's fifth national title a season ago. While three starters and five rotation pieces from that team have moved on the Huskies have not skipped a beat, setting a UConn single-season program record with 28 regular season wins this year. Connecticut also set a BIG EAST record with 18 conference wins and won its 11th regular season and eighth tournament title in the league.
Tristen Newton (El Paso, Texas) charges the Huskies this season, as the recently named First Team All-American paces the squad in points (15.2 ppg), is second in rebounds (7.0 rpg) and leads the team in assists (6.0 apg). He is joined in the most dynamic backcourt in America by fellow grad transfer Cam Spencer (Davidsonville, Md.) who scores 14.9 points per game and ranks top-10 in the nation in both 3-point field goal percentage (44.4 percent) and assist/turnover ratio (3.44).
In the frontcourt for Connecticut, Alex Karaban (Southborough, Mass.) averages 13.9 points and 5.0 rebounds per game on 50.1 percent shooting, while Donovan Clingan (Bristol, Conn.) checks in with 12.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game as one of the most impactful big men in the country. Clingan ranks top-10 in the nation with a 63.8 percent mark from the field.
Rounding out the starting five is BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Stephon Castle (Covington, Ga.), a versatile 6-6 guard who averages 10.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. Hassan Diarra (Queens, N.Y.) is the first guard off the bench and was named BIG EAST Sixth Man of the Year, providing a spark with 6.0 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. Samson Johnson (Lome, Togo) backs up Clingan in the post and is shooting an incredible 72.3 percent from the floor, while Jaylin Stewart (Seattle, Wash.) has come on as a key reserve and scored 17 points over UConn's semifinal and finals victories last weekend in New York.
Stetson plays in its first NCAA Tournament in 2024, coming in a season in which the Hatters went 22-12 and won the Atlantic Sun Tournament. Jalen Blackmon leads the high-scoring Stetson offense with 21.5 points per game, shooting 38.9 percent from 3-point range. Stephan Swenson is second on the squad with 13.8 points per game and averages a team-high 5.9 assists per game, while Aubin Gateretse checks in with 11.8 points and a team-high 7.6 rebounds per contest.
UConn and Stetson have never met in their respective program histories. Should Connecticut advance, they will face the winner of No. 8 FAU and No. 9 Northwestern on Sunday in Brooklyn.
