Dan Hurley and his UConn basketball squad looked just as scary in the second round as the Huskies did in their first-round demolition job of a win over the Stetson Hatters. In the Round of 32, the defending national champions annihilated the Northwestern Wildcats in a 75-58 victory over the No. 9-seeded Big Ten school o Sunday.

It was pure dominance from beginning to end for the Huskies against the Wildcats, who just had no answer for the reigning champs on both ends of the floor.

After the game, Hurley gave his team a fiery message that could also stand as a subtle warning for the rest of the 2024 NCAA Tournament field.

“Just keep plowing these teams down this tournament too, right? That's right. Yeah, just keep smacking. Let's go. Just keep smacking. So here we are, right? Brooklyn, right? To the Boston part right now, we start when we get out of here we start thinking about you know that Boston… the Phoenix part, we'll get to work on let's enjoy this”

UConn basketball destroys anoter March Madness opponent

Connecticut Huskies head coach Dan Hurley reacts against the Northwestern Wildcats in the second round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at the Barclays Center.
Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

The Huskies did not take much time to heat up against Northwestern. UConn basketball immediately went down to work and showed the Wildcats why it is the overall top seed in this edition of March Madness. While they used their size and talent advantage to get points almost at will in the first half, the Huskies' defense stunted Northwestern's attack. In fact, Boo Buie, the all-time leading scorer in Northwestern basketball program history, was only able to get his first points in the ball game via free throws with only under two minutes remaining in the first half.

And speaking of the Huskies' defense, UConn basketball big man Donovan Clingan had a field day swatting shots away against the Wildcats. Clingan finished the game with a total of eight blocks to go with 14 points and 14 rebounds plus an assist in 27 minutes of action. The Wildcats shot just 37.3 percent from the field, while UConn made 53.7 percent of their attempts from the floor. However, that doesn't reflect how badly the Huskies shot from behind the arc where they went just 3-for-22.

In any case, the Huskies are looking scary so far in the tournament. They have yet to hit an offensive rating worse than 120.0 in the tourney, while their defensive rating has been 77.6 or better in each of their two games in the Big Dance to date.

UConn's dominant victory over Northwestern garners epic reactions

“What a weird blowout win. Clingan was insane, but 3-for-22 from beyond the arc is wild. Didn’t matter. Get the bad out of the way. Sweet 16. Four away from a repeat. See people at the Garden in Boston on Thursday night. Can’t wait! #UConn #MarchMadness,” posted Jeff D. Lowe of Barstool on X (formerly Twitter).

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“UConn has now won its last 8 NCAA Tournament games by an average of 22 points. They haven't won over the last two editions of March Madness — they've absolutely dominated their competition in blue blood fashion. As Manhattan's John Gallagher said: “They answer every question,” said John Fanta of CBS Sports.

UConn's opponent in the Sweet 16 round of 2024 NCAA Tournament

The Huskies will have a familiar foe coming up next for them, as they will be playing the No. 5 San Diego State Aztecs on Thursday at TD Garden in Boston. It can be recalled that UConn basketball defeated Brian Dutcher's Aztecs in the 2023 National Championship Game, 76-59, so expect even more attention to this huge showdown in Beantown.