STORRS, Conn. – UConn’s players like to point out that they are a different team than the one that took home the national championship in April.
But they were happy to carry a bit of that squad’s history with them on Monday night, beating New Hampshire 84-64 to set a Division I record with the program’s 24th consecutive victory over a nonconference opponent by double digits.
The No. 4 Huskies haven’t lost outside of the Big East since falling to New Mexico State in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament. They broke a record held by North Carolina, which had 23 consecutive double-digit wins over nonconference opponents in 2008 and 2009.
“It’s great to share a record with the men from last year’s team,” coach Dan Hurley said. “The men from this year’s team and the men from last year’s team are just such great men.”
The Huskies (7-0) will take their streak into Lawrence, Kansas on Friday to face the fifth-ranked Jayhawks.
Donovan Clingan, a 7-foot-2 sophomore who was part of both squads, hit 12 of his 13 shots from the floor to finish with a career-high 29 points.
Cam Spencer and Tristen Newton each scored 17 points and Newtown also pulled down 10 rebounds. Backup center Samson Johnson chipped in with 10 points for Connecticut, which outscored New Hampshire 52-8 in the paint.
Jaxson Baker had 15 of his 20 points in the first half for New Hampshire (4-3). Ahmad Robinson and Clarence Daniels each added 19 points.
Spencer, a Rutgers transfer, hit two early 3-pointers to reach 200 for his career, and UConn used a 16-0 run to take a 24-8 lead midway through the first half.
Baker tried to keep New Hampshire close, hitting five of his first six shots from behind the arc. But the Wildcats had no answer for UConn’s size underneath.
Clingan had 16 points in the first 20 minutes and the Huskies led 45-30 at intermission.
“We took too many shots trying to finish over people that are really big,” said UNH coach Nathan Davis. “We should have shot more 3s. We should have kicked it out and shot it more.”
Clingan, who hit his first 10 shots, scored the first four points of the second half and UConn led by as many as 28 points in the second half.
The Wildcats won their first 10 games in the series with Connecticut, but are 15-95 since and have not beaten UConn since 1983.
BIG PICTURE
New Hampshire: The Wildcats came in averaging 10 3-pointers a game. They were 13 of 27 from behind the arc on Monday.
UConn: The Huskies’ nonconference schedule gets much tougher in the coming weeks with games against No. 5 Kansas, No. 17 North Carolina and No. 11 Gonzaga in December.
“The games coming up are really going to show what the team’s about and going to show everyone who we are,” Clingan said.
MORE STATS
UConn outrebounded New Hampshire 49-28, including 16-4 on the offensive boards. UConn shot 45.7% from the floor, but was just 4 of 28 from 3-point range (14.3%).
UP NEXT
New Hampshire: The Wildcats continue a three-game swing through Connecticut with a game at Sacred Heart on Thursday.
UConn: The Huskies travel to Lawrence, Kansas to take on the Jayhawks on Friday.
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