Clingan, UConn men ready for No. 10 Marquette

Feb. 7—HARTFORD — For a player that is so used to winning like UConn men's basketball freshman and Bristol native Donovan Clingan is, a loss can be a bitter pill to swallow.

Even if he had a great game individually.

"I thought I did pretty well last game against Marquette. But I don't really think about that part. We lost," Clingan said following Monday's practice at the XL Center. "That's the part I remember."

Clingan and the 21st-ranked Huskies get the chance to leave the court with a different outcome against Marquette here tonight when they welcome the 10th-ranked Golden Eagles. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. (FS1).

"They have a very good point guard that can pass the ball very, very well," Clingan said. "Their 5 man can dribble the ball. They set ball screens for the 5 man, so we just have to know what they're trying to do and play everything the right way. Work our hardest and stick to our identity."

The last time UConn (18-6, 7-6 Big East) played Marquette (19-5, 11-2), an 82-76 Huskies loss Jan. 11 in Milwaukee, Clingan was the star of the show.

The 7-foot-2 center finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds — his fourth double-double of the season — while adding five blocks and two steals in a season-high 21:06.

Clingan has been relatively quiet in the six games since though, particularly on offense.

He scored just 20 points total in those games and his scoring average has dipped from 9.3 points per game to 7.8.

Having a rough patch has helped the big man grow though.

"It's just teaching me a lot," Clingan said. "Adama (Sanogo) is a heck of a player. So just watching him play and how he's attacking all of his defenders, how he's playing on defense. It's just a learning experience for me. Just take what he's doing that's working well and translate it to my game, then see what he's doing wrong and make sure I don't make that same mistake when I go out there and play."

In addition to his scoring, Clingan is averaging 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks this season while posting a 69.4 percent field goal percentage in 13.6 minutes off the bench, a position he hasn't been accustomed to during his career.

"It's a little different," Clingan said. "It takes a couple of possessions to get your legs under you and get your blood flowing. But I knew this was going to happen. So, I just have to come into every game, whether it's three minutes in, seven minutes in, whatever, I just have to be ready as soon as my minutes start."

Only UConn coach Dan Hurley knows when Clingan's minutes will start tonight.

But it's probably a safe bet that Clingan will be will be a large part of the game plan once again.

"I think that the things that were effective potentially could be effective again if they guard things the same way that they did in terms of what they tried to take away the first time," Hurley said. "So offensively, those things may present themselves for Donovan. But he's got to be a better defender for us on the other end."

In the first meeting between the teams, Marquette shot 50.8 percent from the floor — including 60.0 percent during the second half — as it erased a halftime deficit to come away victorious.

The Golden Eagles also held UConn's leading scorers — Adama Sanogo and Jordan Hawkins — to 18 total points.

The Huskies relied on Clingan and redshirt freshman Alex Karaban (17 points) for the bulk of their offense that night.

"You can look at it one of two ways," Hurley said. "Obviously, we were fortunate to be in the game under the circumstances and I guess you can take some confidence from that. But we're obviously going to have to play a whole lot better, especially at the defensive end."

Marquette enters tonight's game on a five-game winning streak, including a 60-52 win over Butler in its most recent game Saturday.

Junior Tyler Kolek had 13 points and eight assists against the Bulldogs.

"They create problems in general because of their aggressiveness and the pace," Hurley said. "(Marquette coach) Shaka's (Smart) done a great job with them. They create turnovers. They play athletic, they attack your ball. So if you're not sharp, they make it tough.

"Defensively, they're really hard to guard. They have one of the best quarterbacks in the country in Kolek. (Oso) Ighodaro is going to be a (NBA) draft pick, (Olivier-Maxence) Prosper is going to play in the NBA. (Kam) Jones is one of the most underrated guys in our league probably in terms of the scoring. They're just a tough team."

Poll position

The Huskies moved up three positions to No. 21 (275 points) in this week's Associated Press top 25 poll, which was announced Monday.

UConn has been ranked in each of the last 13 weeks but had fallen in the poll in the previous five.

Despite a loss at Indiana Saturday, Purdue (1,508 points, 38 first-place votes) remained atop the poll this week. Houston (1,483, 22), Alabama (1,436, 1) and Arizona (1,375, 1) each moved up one spot while Texas (1,267) was up five spots to No. 5.

UConn was one of five Big East teams ranked this week — the second-highest number for any conference.

The Golden Eagles (909 points) were up four spots to No. 10. Xavier (843) climbed three positions to 13th, Providence (369) was down three spots to 20th and Creighton (154) checked in at No. 23.

Karaban, Sanogo honored

Karaban was named Big East Freshman of the Week while Sanogo was on the league's weekly Honor Roll, the conference announced Monday.

It's the fifth time this season Karaban has earned Freshman of the Week honors.

"It's all based on the team," Karaban said Monday. "We're winning. If we're not winning, then I'm not getting the award. If Andre (Jackson) doesn't get me on the three-pointer, I probably won't win the award. So, I just give it all to the team. It's a team award."

Karaban, a 6-foot-8 forward, averaged 7.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists in two wins last week.

The Southborough, Massachusetts native is averaging 9.7 points and 4.1 rebounds while shooting 45.7 percent from the floor and 38.4 percent from deep in 28.5 minutes per game.

Meanwhile Sanogo, a 6-foot-9 junior forward, averaged 20.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and shot 66.7 percent from the field last week.

Xavier's Jack Nunge was named the Big East Player of the Week while Marquette's Kolek, Trey Alexander (Creighton), Noah Locke (Providence) and Al-Amir Dawes (Seton Hall) made up the rest of the Honor Roll.

Worth quoting

"Obviously sometimes class schedule gets in the way. For the most part though it's just not having access to the building because of the hockey or whatever different shows go on here. But weekends we would come in here all the time if we could, if it was permitting." — Hurley on the Huskies having the rare opportunity to practice at the XL Center Monday.

For coverage of UConn football and men's basketball as well as area high school and local youth sports, follow Adam Betz on Twitter: @AdBetz1, Facebook: Adam Betz — Sports Writer, and Instagram: @AdBetzJI.