UConn Basketball: 3 takeaways from Huskies victory over Northern Arizona

Donovan Clingan is just fine

There were some concerns as Donovan Clingan was out for some time before the season due to a foot injury, and it was unclear for a while as to whether or not he was going to play in this game. Clingan did indeed get in the game, and he was his same dominant self that he came out with last season, except this time he was able to get a lot more playing time.

He finished with 12 points of his own with eight rebounds and three blocks, in just 15 minutes, which should be a standard Clingan stat line on a night-to-night basis as this season continues. He looked very healthy and showed no signs of that foot bothering him, and this was clear after an and-one dunk early in the first half.

When you take on a team like the Lumberjacks that does not have the size of someone like Clingan, players like him get a much better opportunity to show out and show out what he did. It was very clear based on this game that Clingan was going to be a problem for the rest of the nation, especially the other big men in this great Big East Conference.

The gameplan was clear, Clingan has a huge size and strength advantage, so feed him the ball and run it through him. This just made everything so much easier for this offense, as the Lumberjacks had to make sure there was enough size to try to defend him at all times.

Clingan is a player who can make a team like UConn nearly impossible to take down come tournament time, and he now has the expectations that Adama Sanogo had during last year’s run, it is now up to him to follow in his footsteps, and those of other great UConn big men before him.