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UConn basketball fans might have been caught off-guard by the appearance of Huskies star big man Donovan Cligan in Saturday night's Final Four meeting with the Alabama Crimson Tide. Clingan showed up for the all-important matchup with a wrap around his right hand, indicating an injury.
Apparently, Clingan hurt his hand during Friday's UConn basketball practice, per Pete Thamel of ESPN. Fortunately for the Huskies, the injury doesn't seem to be very serious, as evidenced by the mere fact that Clingan is currently playing versus the Crimson Tide.
“Per a UConn spokesman, Donovan Clingan injured his right hand in practice yesterday. That explains why there's a wrap around it today.”
Perhaps nothing signifies Clingan's great form despite the injury better than the thundering throwdown he had in the first half of the Final Four game against the SEC powerhouse.
Donovan Clingan throws it down with AUTHORITY 💥pic.twitter.com/43NctAYjUf
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 7, 2024
The Huskies took a four-point lead into halftime, 44-40, with Clingan having already scored eight points on 3/5 shooting from the field with two rebounds, an assist, and two blocks. He also drained both his free-throw attempts and committed just a personal foul.
Clingan continues to impress
There is no denying that Clingan is an important piece of the UConn basketball machine that has looked so unstoppable in the 2024 NCAA Tournament thus far. Clingan entered the Alabama game averaging 15.8 points, 10 rebounds, and 3.5 blocks through four games while shooting 67.5 percent from the floor.
Also worth noting is Clingan's total of 14 blocks in the tournament, including eight in UConn's 75-58 win in the second round over the No. 9 Northwestern Wildcats. His ability to protect the rim is one big reason why he's being projected to be selected early in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft.
“I feel healthier and lighter than I’ve ever felt, and I just really got my confidence back,” Clingan said after the win over the Wildcats, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN). “Just trying to fly around the court and do whatever my team needs me to do to win.”
With Clingan anchoring UConn basketball's defense, the Huskies held their first four opponents in the Big Dance to just 32.2 percent shooting from the field. Over at KenPom, UConn has the fourth-best adjusted defensive efficiency with just 91.5 points allowed per 100 possessions.
Donovan Clingan, UConn basketball gunning for rare NCAA two-peat
The NCAA Tournament was first staged in 1939, but only seven programs in history have ever accomplished the feat of winning back-to-back national titles. They are the Oklahoma State Cowboys, Kentucky Wildcats, San Francisco Dons, Cincinnati Bearcats, UCLA Bruins, Duke Blue Devils, and most recently, Florida Gators. The Gators went back-to-back in 2006 and 2007, so it has been nearly two decades since college basketball fans saw a team win consecutive titles in March Madness.
Enter Clingan and USC basketball, who have a golden opportunity to become the latest program to join that exclusive club of programs with successful national title defenses. In the 2023 edition of the NCAA Tournament, the Huskies entered it as a No. 4 seed and dominated each opponent that stood in their way to the program's first title since the Kevin Ollie-coached squad in 2014. That year, UConn basketball defeated the No. 5 seed San Diego State Aztecs in the grand finale and won the contest in dominant fashion, 76-59.
This time around, the Huskies are the overall No. 1 seed and have defeated their first four opponents by a combined margin of 111.
