The top-seeded UConn men's basketball team (34-3) used a monster second half and a huge day from its backcourt to advance to the Elite Eight, taking down five-seed San Diego State by a score of 82-52 on Thursday night in the NCAA East Regional Semifinal at the TD Garden.

Stephon Castle, Tristen Newton and Cam Spencer combined for 51 points and the Huskies out-scored the Aztecs 42-21 in the second half of the huge win. The victory was UConn's 34th of the season, tying the 1998-99 squad for most wins in a season in program history.

Connecticut's 30-point win was the largest margin of victory in a Sweet 16 game or later in UConn history, topping last year's 28-point win over Gonzaga in the Elite Eight. Castle recorded his first career double-double with 16 points and a career-high 11 rebounds in the triumph, while Spencer poured in 18 points and Newton finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

The Huskies held a commanding 50-29 edge on the glass, led by Castle's 11 rebounds and eight caroms from Donovan Clingan. Hassan Diarra was the fourth Husky in double-figures with 10 points and four assists off the bench, while Clingan and Karaban both had eight.

How it Happened

The contest started with a frenetic pace, as SDSU took a 10-9 lead into the first media timeout. The Huskies gained some early separation with a 12-2 run, using a Newton triple and five-straight from Spencer to pull ahead 25-16 at the 11:48 mark of the opening stanza.

UConn hit a cold spell in the latter portion of the first half, going through a 1-of-10 stretch and seeing its lead shrink to four at 33-29 around the under-four timeout. A Spencer 3-pointer in the waning moments of the first half gave the Huskies a 40-31 lead at the break. The nine-point lead for Connecticut at the half came despite shooting only 39.5 percent from the floor in the opening 20.

Early in the second half, a corner 3-pointer from Newton gave the Huskies their largest lead at 45-33. Connecticut kept hold of that double-figure advantage, and back-to-back buckets from Hassan Diarra would push the lead to 18 at 57-39 at the 11:19 mark.  

A nifty feed from Castle for a Clingan slam stretched the Connecticut lead over 20 for the first time, with the Huskies going up 66-45 at the 6:50 mark. Overall, UConn would use an 11-0 run to push its advantage to 28 at the 4:30 mark. From there, the Huskies easily closed out the 30-point victory.

Inside The Numbers

• UConn rebounded from a cold first half to shoot 46.2 percent for the game (30-65) and shot 38.5 percent (10-26) from 3-point range
• Conversely, the Huskies held SDSU to 36.2 percent (21-58) shooting from the floor and a 22.7 percent (5-22) mark from distance
• The Huskies out-scored the Aztecs 38-18 in the paint
• UConn was +21 on the glass and grabbed 21 offensive rebounds
• Connecticut notched 10 steals in the win, getting three apiece from Karaban and Spencer
• The Huskies were only +1 in turnover margin, but out-scored the Aztecs 20-10 off miscues

News and Notes

• UConn improves to 3-0 all-time against San Diego State, with all three meetings coming in the NCAA Tournament in the Sweet 16 or later
• The 34 wins this season match the total of the 1998-99 team, which went 34-2 en route to the program's first national title
• The Huskies advanced to their 13th Elite Eight in program history, moving to 13-6 all-time in Sweet 16 games
• Connecticut has won a program-record nine-straight NCAA Tournament games – each win has come by double-figures, tying an NCAA record set by Michigan State from 2000-01
• Dan Hurley is now 11-4 in the NCAA Tournament
• The double-double for Castle was the first of his career
• The Huskies hit double-digit 3-pointers in a game for the 17th time this season
• Connecticut improved to 24-0 this season when holding an opponent under 40 percent from the floor

Up Next

The Huskies will face Illinois n the Elite Eight for a trip to the Final Four on Saturday, March 30 at 6:09 p.m. on TBS and truTV.