UConn men’s basketball fall to Seton Hall, Donovan Clingan injured

Clingan was called for a foul on Seton Hall’s Jaden Bediako and fell to the ground, grabbing his right ankle and wincing in pain. He tried to get up but couldn’t, ultimately limping back to the locker room with trainer James Doran. 

Clingan returned to the bench about midway through the half but never re-entered the game. He had suffered a sprained ankle and was seen sporting a walking boot on his right foot after the game.

“He made a play to try to get back in the game, but I don’t think that was what the trainer wanted,” coach Dan Hurley said. “But, tough kid, wanted to get back in.”

Meanwhile UConn, which trailed by just four when Clingan got injured, wound up with its worst loss in nearly four years.

Kadary Richmond scored 23 points and swiped eight steals to lead Seton Hall to a 75-60 romp over the fifth-ranked Huskies. It matches the Huskies’ worst loss since a Jan. 4, 2020 loss at South Florida by the exact same 75-60 score.

“We’ve all got to own it,” a disconsolate Hurley said afterwards. “That was not reminiscent of a top team. That was a pretty embarrassing performance for all of us, myself first in line. To have one of my teams in a conference opener go on the road and perform like this, I’m having a hard time even looking (the media) in the eyes when you ask me a question. There’s a real feeling of shame there.”

“To be honest,” forward Alex Karaban added, “we weren’t ready to play, we didn’t show up, we weren’t the tough team, we didn’t play to the UConn identity. We didn’t do anything that we had done during the nonconference slate. That’s what happens. You don’t show up ready in the Big East, you get your ass kicked.”

And why weren’t the Huskies (10-2) ready to play, especially considering last season’s heartbreaking, 67-66 loss to the Hall in this same building?

“I don’t know if we were too complacent about what happened in nonconference, or if we thought this would be an easy game,” Karban answered. “But clearly, no game is easy in the Big East, and we’ve got to show up ready every game. Because we know every game is going to be a dogfight.”

This was UConn’s first Big East regular-season loss since losing at Creighton last season on Feb. 11. It’s the Huskies’ first double-digit loss since an 85-74 loss to St. John’s on Jan. 15 in Hartford.

UConn hosts the Johnnies, now coached by Rick Pitino, on Saturday night in Hartford.

“We have to turn the page quickly,” Hurley warned. 

Richmond cemented his reputation as a Husky-killer for Seton Hall (8-4). Two years ago, the 6-6 guard scored what was then a career-high 27 points, including a whopping 17 in a row at one point, in the Hall’s overtime win over UConn.

On Wednesday, Richmond’s more modest 7-0 personal run helped spur the Pirates’ 15-2 first-half run that helped stake them a 34-29 lead at halftime.

“Kadary’s a tough cover. We’ve been dealing with him for an eternity,” Hurley noted. “If he sees no bodies and driving gaps, and he plays in space with his size and what he can do downhill to the rim, he’s as good as there is at that size with the ball.”

Added Newton, who guarded Richmond for much of the game: “He’s big and strong, he’s good in the post. He’s just a good player. He’s able to get downhill, he’s very physical, good at attacking the rim and good at finishing at the rim.”

No doubt, the absence of Clingan in the paint over the final 16 1/2 minutes hurt the Huskies.

“We would have kept throwing it in there,” Hurley said, noting that Clingan scored 14 points in 14 minutes. “It settles the game down. We’re not a team full of great 1-on-1 players. It not only hurt us from a low-post scsoring perspective. It kind of demoralizes the opponent when they can’t stop the big. But he’s also a really good passer at the top of the key. It hurt us. And obviously, it killed our rim defense, because we were pathetic at the rim.”

But ultimately, the defending national champs weren’t offering any excuses on Wednesday night.