UConn Coach Dan Hurley talks to his players during a time-out in the first half of the Huskies’ 91-52 win over Stetson in the first round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament on Friday in New York. Frank Franklin II/Associated Press
NEW YORK — Donovan Clingan scored 19 points and Cam Spencer added 15 as top-seeded UConn began defense of its national championship by cruising past 16th-seeded Stetson 91-52 Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The top-ranked Huskies (32-3) will face ninth-seeded Northwestern on Sunday in the second round of the East Region at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Stephan Swenson scored 20 points for the Hatters (22-13), the ASun champions who were making their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament. They never had a chance against UConn, which scored the first eight points and went on to its most lopsided NCAA victory since beating Chattanooga by 56 in the first round of the 2009 tournament.
Less than a week after the Huskies won the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden, they were back in New York City, a few subway stops south in Brooklyn.
As usual, their fans showed up in droves. They were loud early but ended up settling in for a relaxing couple of hours that probably felt more like a November nonconference game than the start of March Madness.
Clingan slammed home an alley-oop from Tristen Newton to make it 8-0 with 17:16 left in the first half.
Stephon Castle made a 3 to push the lead to 20 with 9:06 left, and it was up to 31 when the 7-foot-2 Clingan got free underneath for another easy layup with 5:00 left.
Newton’s straight-on 3 gave UConn 50 points with a little under two minutes left in the half.
Newton, a first-team All-American, finished with 13 points and eight assists.
NORTHWESTERN 77, FLORIDA ATLANTIC 65: Ryan Langborg scored 12 of his career-high 27 points in overtime, and the Wildcats (22-11) finally put away the Owls (25-9) in New York.
Brooks Barnhizer’s driving layup tied it with nine seconds left for the Wildcats, who recovered after squandering a nine-point lead late in the second half.
Boo Buie had 19 of his 22 points after a quiet first half, and Barnhizer added 13 points and 10 rebounds for Northwestern, which advanced in the NCAAs for the second consecutive season.
Vlad Goldin had 19 points and nine rebounds for the Owls, who returned nearly their entire team from a surprising Final Four run last year but were unable to muster that same March magic this time.
DUKE 64, VERMONT 47: Jared McCain and Mark Mitchell each had 15 points, and the Blue Devils (25-8) opened the NCAA Tournament with an uneven performance before finally pulling away from the Catamounts (28-7) for a win in New York.
Jeremy Roach scored 14 for the Blue Devils, who were able to advance without much offensive production from star center Kyle Filipowski. The sophomore took only one shot and scored a career-low three points, though he did grab 12 rebounds.
Shamir Bogues had 18 points for Vermont, playing in its third consecutive NCAA Tournament as America East champions. Nick Fiorillo of Scarborough was scoreless in 24 minutes. He had one four rebound and was whistled for four fouls.. Aaron Deloney added 14 for the Catamounts, who had won 10 straight games.
BAYLOR 93, COLGATE 67: Jalen Bridges scored 23 points, Ja’Kobe Walter added 19 and the Bears (24-10) coasted past the Raiders (25-10) in Memphis, Tennesse.
Jayden Nunn added 15 points, going 4 of 5 from 3-point range, and RayJ Davis finished with 10 points and nine assists for Coach Scott Drew’s Bears, who have won their past six first-round games in March Madness.
Brady Cummins of York played 23 minutes and finished with two points and three rebounds for Colgate.
MARQUETTE 87, WESTERN KENTUCKY 69: Kam Jones scored 28 points and Tyler Kolek made a successful return from an oblique injury, helping the Golden Eagles (26-9) rally for a victory over Hilltoppers (22-12) in the first round in Indianapolis.
The Golden Eagles trailed 43-36 at halftime, but they overwhelmed the Hilltoppers in the second half. They used a 15-2 run to open an 87-67 cushion on the way to their second consecutive first-round NCAA victory.
YALE 78, AUBURN 76: John Poulakidas scored 28 points, Samson Aletan made a key block during a wild scramble in the final seconds, and the Bulldogs (23-9) rallied in the final five minutes to take down the Tigers (27-8) in Spokane, Washington.
NOTES
REFEREES: The referee who blew the critical whistle that worked against Samford at the end of its loss to Kansas in the NCAA Tournament might be following the Bulldogs straight out of town.
It is routine for evaluators to analyze games and decide which officials move on to call the next round. The NCAA said it does not comment on judgment calls, meaning one way to determine its take on the end of the Kansas 93-89 win might be to see if referee Lamar Simpson is assigned to either of Saturday’s games in Salt Lake City.
Simpson was behind the play with 14.7 seconds left Thursday night when Samford’s A.J. Staton-McCray caught up to Nicolas Timberlake and blocked his layup from behind.
Simpson called a foul, leading to two free throws that gave KU a three-point lead. Replays from a number of angles showed no contact on the play that sent Timberlake crashing to the floor.
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