Tyrese Martin collected 14 points and 10 rebounds to lift UConn to a 94-60 victory over DePaul in a Big East tournament quarterfinal game on Thursday in New York.
Martin has tormented the Blue Demons this season. He scored a season-high 22 points in the Huskies' 82-61 win over DePaul on Dec. 30 and added 18 in a 60-53 victory on Jan. 11.
RJ Cole and Adama Sanogo also scored 14 points apiece on Thursday for third-seeded UConn (15-6), which has won five in a row. The Huskies advanced to Friday's semifinal game against second-seeded Creighton, which posted an 87-56 victory over 10th-seeded Butler.
James Bouknight had 10 points before exiting the contest in the second half with a left leg injury. The Huskies sport an 11-2 record with Bouknight in the lineup, and 4-4 without him. He missed eight games due to an elbow injury.
Javon Freeman-Liberty had 19 points and Ray Salnave added 10 for the 11th-seeded Blue Demons (5-14).
UConn sputtered at the start before turning on the jets in its first Big East tournament game since 2013. The Huskies turned eight giveaways by DePaul into 16 points to secure a 45-22 lead at intermission.
UConn enjoyed a distinct 53-32 edge in rebounds, with 24 coming on the offensive end.
The Huskies kept up the intensity on the offensive glass in the second half. Isaiah Whaley provided the honors before setting up Tyrese Martin for a jumper to push UConn's to a 60-35 lead with 12:17 to play.
Richie Springs' layup pushed the Huskies' advantage to 81-47 with 6:06 to play.
The Huskies notched a 24-13 lead with 9:37 remaining in the first half. Martin made a three-point play and Big East Sixth Man of the Year Tyler Polley drained a 3-pointer to cap a 9-2 surge.
UConn added a 9-0 run to extend its advantage to 38-20 with 5:13 to play in the first half. Bouknight sank a pair of free throws, converted a reverse layup and followed a 3-pointer by Cole with an emphatic dunk.
--Field Level Media
DePaul | Connecticut | |
Javon Freeman-Liberty 19 | Scoring | R.J. Cole 14 |
Charlie Moore 2 | Assists | R.J. Cole 8 |
Charlie Moore 6 | Rebounds | Tyrese Martin 10 |
Javon Freeman-Liberty 6 | Free Throws Made | Tyrese Martin 5 |
Javon Freeman-Liberty 1 | Steals | Josh Carlton 2 |
Pauly Paulicap 2 | Blocks | Isaiah Whaley 4 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
DePaul | 60 | 36.8 | 4-11 | 14-18 | 8 | 27 | 2 | 3 | 15 |
Connecticut | 94 | 44.7 | 8-28 | 18-23 | 20 | 42 | 8 | 8 | 8 |