Connecticut keeps rolling, routs San Diego State to reach Elite Eight

Connecticut keeps rolling, routs San Diego State to reach Elite Eight

BOSTON — It’s not supposed to be this easy. Doom lurks around every corner of the NCAA tournament for even the greatest teams. Shots don’t fall. The opponent’s star plays the game of his life. Styles mix the wrong way. Those land mines befall Connecticut, too. The Huskies just shrug and throw another beautiful pass to another deadeye shooter curling around another perfectly set screen. They just keep steamrolling anything in their path.

“We suck at winning close games,” Connecticut Coach Dan Hurley said. “So you have to go with the alternative.”

A rematch of last year’s national championship game reaffirmed the separation between U-Conn. and the rest of college basketball. San Diego State flew across the country in search of revenge, and the Aztecs headed home the top-seeded Huskies’ latest blowout victim. Connecticut flattened them, 82-52, at TD Garden — appropriately christened “Storrs North” by Hurley — as point guard Cam Spencer led six Huskies who scored at least eight points with 18.

The Huskies have won nine consecutive tournament games by at least 13 points, with an average margin of 22.9. Having improved to 34-3, they have already become the first defending national champion to reach the Elite Eight since Florida in 2007. They are three victories from becoming the first repeat winner since those Gators. Next up: the winner of the Iowa State-Illinois late game for a chance at the program’s seventh Final Four, all in the past quarter-century.

Connecticut, which beat Stetson by 39 and led Northwestern by 30, blew out a team that does not get blown out. In each of its 10 losses this season, San Diego State either led or trailed by only a point at some point in the second half. The Aztecs had won seven straight tournament games against opponents other than Connecticut. U-Conn. led Thursday night by nine at halftime and by double digits for the final 17:26. The Huskies’ lead swelled to 32 as both teams emptied their benches late.

“We just try to win every media timeout,” Connecticut forward Alex Karaban said. “Over time, it adds up. We never go into a game being like: ‘We want to win by 20. We want to win by 30.’ It’s impossible. There’s no 20-point shot. There’s no 30-point shot. We just want to go out there and break down a team minute by minute.”

The Huskies’ unselfish offense, suffocating defense, tenacious rebounding and overwhelming talent allow them to plug any holes that may appear. Connecticut eventually finds a way to “systematically break down” its opponent, in Hurley’s words.

“I feel like it just comes out of nowhere,” Connecticut center Donovan Clingan said. “Sometimes I don’t even realize the score, and I look up and I’m like, ‘Oh.’ ”

The Huskies have made themselves impervious to the whims of the NCAA tournament. They destroyed Northwestern this past weekend even while making only three three-pointers. They demolished San Diego State despite 18 points from third-team all-American Jaedon LeDee, 15 of them in a first half that remained relatively tight until a late U-Conn. spurt.

Connecticut has dominated just the same against its most dangerous opponent: complacency. The Huskies have maintained a ferocious edge even as noncompetitive victories pile up. They have not trailed beyond the first minute of the second half in the tournament over the past two years, and yet they remain relentless.

“It starts with Coach Hurley and Coach Hurley’s message and mentality to us every day,” Karaban said. “We could never be complacent. It’s really going to show in the locker room who’s not hungry, who doesn’t want more. We all want more.”

“Realizing what’s on the line and realizing what’s at the end,” Clingan said. “We all came to U-Conn. to try to put another banner on the wall. Coach, the way he pushes us in practice, we could never get complacent. We really just love to win.”

Hurley openly talks about making his team “bulletproof.” He does not mean they are invulnerable. But if the Huskies follow a formula, they have enough talent to overcome any one-game deficiency. A key ingredient is rebounding grit. On Thursday night, Connecticut grabbed 50 rebounds — 21 offensive — to San Diego State’s 29.

The Huskies do not require external advantages, but they have one in the East Region. Less than two hours from Connecticut’s campus, TD Garden filled with white-clad fans. A roar punctuated every Connecticut run. At one point in the first half, Spencer implored the crowd, which stood and roared. Fans then chanted “air ball” after the Aztecs’ Darrion Trammell whiffed on a three-pointer.

The Huskies did not expect another blowout Thursday night. Hurley has abiding respect for San Diego State Coach Brian Dutcher, one of the best defensive coaches in the country. As Dutcher walked down a hallway past Connecticut’s locker room, Hurley stopped him and embraced him. “You’re a beast,” Hurley told him.

Late in the second half, just before the Huskies’ lead ballooned to 21, a defeated Aztecs fan blurted to no one in particular, “U-Conn. is so f——- good!” It may end up the slogan of this NCAA tournament, if not the coming era of college basketball.

“As a program, we don’t feel a lot of pressure,” Hurley said. “I know as a staff we don’t. Because we feel like the position that we’re in right now is going to be our level. And that we’re going to be able to maintain it because we’ve got the formula.”