BOSTON — Connecticut is half history.
They are now three wins away from becoming the first team to win back-to-back games since Florida in 2006-07.
This was harder than the first two NCAA Tournament wins, which felt like scrimmages, but not by much.
San Diego State was even with the top-seeded Huskies until the half. Then, on Thursday night at TD Garden, he powered UConn to a dominant 82-52 victory that propelled them to the Elite Eight.
Connecticut State won a rematch of last year’s national championship game and has won nine straight tournament games by double digits.
Average winning percentage for these games: 22.8.
They will play against 2nd place Iowa State University/2nd place Iowa State University. 3 Illinois State winners Saturday night with a spot in the Final Four on the line.
The fifth-place Aztecs trailed by only four points at the end of the first half, but it was as close as it could get.
Cam Spencer scored the final five points of the period, and the Huskies scored 11 of their first 15 points after halftime.
They led by 16 points at that point, and the large Connecticut crowd was in a celebratory mood.
Donovan Clingan’s dunk with 6:50 left cut the lead to 21 points.
It was really over at that point.
San Diego State couldn’t compete against the glass, outrebounding them by 21, and couldn’t shoot (32%) in the second half.
Connecticut outscored Mountain West Conference schools by 20 points in the paint, holding All-American Jadon Reedy to 18 points on 8-of-18 shooting.
It wasn’t a particularly impressive offensive performance by Connecticut’s lofty standards.
The Huskies shot 46 percent from the field, but it didn’t matter. Spencer led the team with 18 points, Tristen Newton added 17 points and Stephon Castle recorded his first career double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
San Diego State got off to a strong start and held an early lead even as Connecticut fell behind for the first time in the tournament.
The Huskies quickly took control on the strength of a 12-2 run, leading by as many as 11 points on Spencer’s five straight points.
The Aztecs methodically worked their way back into the game, going on a 13-6 spurt that led by nine points at halftime.
Leddy picked up his second foul with 6:53 left, but coach Brian Dutcher took a gamble and stopped him.
done.
Reedy was able to defend Clingan despite suffering fouls. The center missed five shots during the period.
Leddy scored 15 of San Diego State’s 31 points and made 7 of 10 field goals. However, his teammates missed 16 of 23 shots.
It was a similar story for UConn. Spencer scored 16 points and made 6 of 9 shots.
The other huskies were 9 out of 29.
