'The Run' Takes Its Place In UConn Hoops History

By PHIL CHARDIS

Special to uconnhuskies.com

BOSTON – From now on in UConn basketball history, it will just be known as "The Run."

There are plenty of events in sports lore that need the shortest of descriptions -- "The Drive," John Elway and the Denver Broncos' 98-yard march in the waning minutes of the 1986 AFC Championship game; "The Catch," Dwight Clark's leaping reception of Joe Montana's pass to send the San Francisco 49ers to the 1981 Super Bowl; "The Hail Mary," Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie's final-play heave, caught by Gerard Phelan in the end zone to defeat Miami in 1984.

UConn, in fact, already has one of its own – "The Shot," is remembered as Tate George's turnaround jumper with one second left that beat Clemson in the 1990 NCAA Sweet 16.

Now, it can add "The Run."

College basketball is a game of runs – teams routinely put together streaks of 10-4, 16-6, 22-10 and the like. But 30-0? In an NCAA Tournament game? In the Elite Eight? Against a team that won the Big Ten Championship? Simply unheard of. Simply mind-blowing.

There has been plenty of discussion from the college basketball talking heads about how the Huskies have been dominating games in this NCAA Tournament, in much the same way they dominated games in the last NCAA Tournament. But the way UConn turned a 23-23 tie into a 53-23 blowout in just over 8:30 of playing time on its way to a 77-52 triumph took those discussions to another level. It is likely to be a front-and-center topic this week as the Huskies head for their second straight (and seventh overall) Final Four.

During The Run, Illinois was 0 of 17 from the floor, including 5 three-pointers, had 3 shots blocked and committed 3 turnovers. UConn, meanwhile, was 11 of 15, including 2 three-pointers, with 7 assists, with 3 offensive rebounds, and 6-of-7 from the foul line. UConn sophomore center Donovan Clingan was enormous (literally and figuratively) at both ends of the floor.

None of the Huskies had ever been a part of anything like The Run.

"Maybe in high school, but never in college," said Tristen Newton. "I don't know how many shots we missed in that run, but when we did, we got the rebound. We played great defense. It was just a great feeling, something special and great to be a part of."

"I've been on multiple runs before where it's been like 24-3 or something, where the other team at least scored," Alex Karaban added. "But 30-0 run, it's unheard of and being a part of it, it didn't feel real. It was just so much fun. There was so much energy going through the building. It was unbelievable."

Cam Spencer said he didn't realize the Huskies had run off 30 unanswered points.

"Obviously, we knew we had a run going and momentum, but we were just taking it possession by possession, trying to get stops, rebound, run in transition, and convert on the offensive end," the sharpshooting guard said. "You're always aware of the score, but you can only take it possession by possession and focus on that. We think if we play a full 40 minutes, we're a tough team to beat. I was proud of the way we fought defensively – to hold that team to 23 points in the first half really kept us in the game and allowed us to go into halftime up five. We felt like we had a lot more in the tank for the second half."

UConn Coach Dan Hurley was able to explain how a 30-0 run is possible and it somewhat ties into his comments about these Huskies being bulletproof.

"The bulletproof thing has been out there like I'm saying we're unbeatable, but that's not what I'm saying," Hurley said. "I'm saying when your defense is elite, which ours is, and your offense is elite, which ours is, and the rebounding margins show that we're an elite rebounding team and we generally play harder than our opponent. We share the ball and have depth, our All-American point guard didn't have a field goal today and we shot 3 for 17 from three, and we went of a 30-0 run. We're not flawed in any particular way, which makes you as bulletproof in this tournament as possible to survive bad shooting or a bad performance from a star like Tristen."

While this UConn team is setting all kinds of records both within the program – most wins (35) in a season – and nationally – most consecutive NCAA Tournament wins by double digits (10) -- it's unlikely that UConn will put together another 30-0 run. The events with two-word labels are usually once-in-a-lifetime events.

But they are always something to remember.

University of Connecticut Athletics

Players Mentioned

Donovan Clingan

Alex Karaban

Tristen Newton

Cam Spencer

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