Don't tell anyone, but UConn men's basketball center Donovan Clingan's favorite play is not a thunderous two-hand slam. It's not skying above everyone else to grab a rebound. And it's not demoralizing an opponent by blocking his shot into the third row of the stands.

Nope. For the 7-2 sophomore, it's a pass.

"Oh, yeah, there's nothing better," Clingan said following No. 1 UConn's 71-62 win over Butler on Tuesday, the Huskies' 11th straight victory. "I have to be patient and read what the defense is doing. But then, as soon as I see an opening for one of my teammates, I'm firing it."

Clingan had a career-high three assists against Butler, two of them within the first 5:00 and occurred exactly as he described – holding the ball at the top of the key, patiently surveying the defense, until Alex Karaban broke free and cut to the basket. Clingan immediately hit him with a sharp pass for an open layup. Just over one minute later, he repeated the play, this time finding Cam Spencer for the score.

And, just to be clear, there was also the slam, the rebound, and the block by the Huskies' big man. In his finest performance since returning from a foot injury on Jan. 27, Clingan had his first double-double of the season with 18 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, as well as 3 assists and 3 blocks. That came on the heels of two sub-par efforts against Providence at St. John's.

"Obviously, I wasn't happy with my last two performances," Clingan said, "so I came here with a better mindset, just realizing that I had to kill my opponent and do whatever I had to do help my team win. Tonight, I felt the best that I've felt – I've lost a little weight and got my cardio up."

UConn Coach Dan Hurley felt that Clingan played with a new resolve.

"Donovan is a very self-aware person and he understood the situation," Hurley said. "Other guys have carried us with him on the bench a lot with foul trouble the last couple of games and I think he knew that he was going to have to play big for us. That's how this thing goes. He was going to have to step up and produce at a high level."

Butler coach Thad Matta was impressed.

"Clingan is just a different breed in terms of how good he is and the impact he has on the game," he said. "They made us miss a lot of shots with their length. That size is very, very impactful. I thought Clingan played tremendous tonight. He was up the floor and back down, challenging shots and that allows them to get in and pressure you a little bit more because you have a safety net back there."

With eight games remaining in the regular season, starting with Saturday's game against Georgetown at Capital One Arena, UConn is going to expect more of the same from Clingan down the stretch.

"We won this game with our defense," Hurley said. "Donovan had a huge impact on the game. He was tremendous. They didn't have many answers for him. When he rolled, he created opportunities for the driver to get to the rim or for kick-out threes. He impacts everything. It was great to see him produce like that and really look like a dominant big."

Which is exactly the look Clingan will be going for the rest of the season.

"I'm really trying to change my mentality every day, how I approach practice and how I approach games," he said, "Being more locked in, more focused and realize all the little things I have to do to help the team win. I have to make sure I bring my 'A' game, keep this mindset, and bring this to every game."

Along with slams, rebounds, blocks and a few sharp passes.