Dominance: How UConn Took College Basketball by Storm to Claim Back-to-Back National Championships

How UConn Took College Basketball by Storm to Claim Back-to-Back National Championships

DOMINANCE

FRONT COVER: UConn celebrates its win against Purdue in the NCAA Final Four championship basketball game, April 8, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. DAVID J. PHILLIP / ASSOCIATED PRESS

LEFT: General view as UConn Huskies guard Tristen Newton (2) controls the ball against Purdue Boilermakers forward Trey Kaufman-Renn (4) in the second half in the national championship game of the Final Four of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at State Farm Stadium, April 8, 2024, Glendale, Ariz. PATRICK

UConn men, despite coming off a national title, will stay play with a chip on their shoulders

BY GAVIN KEEFE, THE DAY · PUBLISHED

OCT. 23, 2023

NEW YORK — Dan Hurley did something Tuesday that he’s never done. He walked into Madison Square Garden for Big East basketball media day as coach of the reigning national champion.

His mind was on something else that happened in the building in March — UConn’s two-point loss to Marquette in the Big East tournament semifinals.

That’s just how Hurley is wired.

“The last time I was in here I didn’t win, so that was probably the first thing that I thought about,” Hurley said.

The Huskies never lost after that, winning six straight NCAA Tournament games by double figures on the way to capturing the program’s fifth national title.

The accomplishment reinforced to Hurley that his approach works.

“I just think, in general, when you accomplish what you did last year, your organization

has a lot more confidence,” said Hurley, who’s in his sixth year. “You have more belief in what you do. You get even more of a buy-in from your players. Obviously, you’re trying to continue to learn and grow and change some things tactically about your attack and your leadership and different things you do.

“When you win a national championship, you know your way works.”

As the Big East coaches preseason poll pointed out, this is a new year.

UConn landed third in the preseason poll while Creighton checked in at second with four first-place votes behind defending champion Marquette with seven votes.

It’s not every day that a college basketball team (UConn) ranked sixth in the country in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll isn’t favored to win its league. That speaks to the strength of the Big East. By the way, Marquette is fifth and Creighton eighth in

the AP Top 25.

“The league is going to be a monster this year, so you can give credit to the league,” redshirt sophomore Alex Karaban said of his team’s placement. “We’ll use it as ammunition, to have a chip on our shoulder this year. That’s something we want coming into the season, just to continue to prove more people wrong.

“... We’ll see by the end of the year.”

Three Huskies earned All-Big East preseason honors — Stephon Castle, freshman of the year; Donovan Clingan, second team; Karaban, honorable mention.

Hurley’s reaction?

“It’s all a bunch of (crap), so it doesn’t matter,” Hurley said. “Jordan Hawkins was not picked on an all-conference team last year and he led us to a dominant run and he was a lottery pick. Some of the stuff I get this year probably more than other years. If you really look at the all-conference teams player-wise,

OPPOSITE: Connecticut Huskies guard Tristen Newton (2) cuts down a piece of the net after defeating the San Diego State Aztecs in the national championship game of the 2023 NCAA Tournament at NRG Stadium in Houston on April 3, 2023. ROBERT DEUTSCH / USA TODAY SPORTS

it was hard when you got through the second team. Really good players didn’t make one of the first two teams.

“Then, in the order of finish, we have three teams ranked in the top eight in the AP poll. We have three, maybe four national championship contenders this year. It’s a great league. It’s hard to be picked first and second.”

Considering the stiff competition, it’s also hard to be picked as a preseason player of the year like Marquette’s Tyler Kolek was, or preseason freshman of the year like Castle. Kolek earned Big East player of the year honors last season.

Castle, a 6-foot-6 guard, arrived on campus as a McDonald’s high school All-American and consensus five-star recruit. It was announced Tuesday that he’s one of 20 shooting guards on the Jerry West Award Watch List.

His backcourt partner, Tristen Newton, has been impressed with the newcomer.

“Coming in as a freshman, he’s smarter than everybody expected,” Newton said. “Everybody knew his talent. He’s come in and learned our

system really quickly. Playing how he plays, he’ll be fine. This is his award to lose.”

Hurley and his players — Cam Spencer and Donovan Clingan also made the trip — returned to Storrs after media day to continue to prepare for the upcoming season.

UConn opens on Nov. 6 against Northern Arizona at Gampel Pavilion.

Hurley is fine with the Huskies, who finished fourth in the Big East last year, having something to prove.

“We’re all about basketball,” Hurley said. “We’re all about pursuing championships. Storrs, Connecticut, is the basketball capital of the world. Whether we get as much hype as other national brand programs that in the last 25 years haven’t done as much as us in terms of producing big results, we’ll come into the season with maybe more of a chip in our shoulder, or maybe two chips.

“Maybe that’s why the program has been successful as it’s been because we don’t carry complacency and we don’t get soft by the branding or the hype.”

RIGHT: UConn Huskies head coach Dan Hurley against Marquette at Madison Square Garden in New York on March 10, 2023. ROBERT DEUTSCH / USA TODAY SPORTS

Hurley:

‘We don’t win a lot of popularity contests at UConn, we just win championships’

BY GAVIN KEEFE, THE DAY · PUBLISHED OCT. 30, 2023

ROCKY HILL, Conn. — Winning a national championship hasn’t softened up Dan Hurley.

In his sixth season as UConn head coach, Hurley is applying a full court press on his players in practice.

“Our program is old school accountability, it’s old school with the culture and responsibility and a standard that we hold our players to,” Hurley said. “We coach them real hard. I coach them real hard. This is probably the hardest that I’ve coached a team.”

A week from the regular-season opener, Hurley made his annual speaking appearance at the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce breakfast Monday morning at the Sheraton Hotel in Rocky Hill.

It was clear that Hurley feels good about his Huskies who begin the 2023-24 season Monday against Northern Arizona at Gampel Pavilion.

“I think we’re going into the season right where you want to be when you coach at UConn,” Hurley said. “You’re going into the season just feeling like you’ve got a contending

team for championships, for the Big East, for Final Fours, for a national championship.

“We’re just trying to put together the best possible season to go from Brooklyn to Boston to Phoenix. It’s our visualization. The first two rounds of the tournament are in Brooklyn, the Sweet and Elite Eight are in Boston and the national championship in Phoenix.

“That’s what we’re thinking about. That’s our mindset. Obviously, you’re focused on the process, but you’ve got to envision what you want to accomplish and you’ve got to believe in it, so that’s where our minds are at.”

People in attendance for the breakfast certainly feel good about Hurley, who received a standing ovation upon walking into the hotel banquet room for the event and again when introduced.

Hurley addressed a variety of basketballrelated topics during his roughly 30-minute State of the Huskies address.

Here’s some of what he had to say:

Sophomore center Donovan Clingan is ramping up his on-the-court activity this week. He’s

recovering from a foot strain he suffered in late September.

Hurley called this a big week in terms of Clingan’s recovery.

“Right now, he’s feeling great,” Hurley said. “You start to ramp some things up in terms of some next steps. But he’s had no setbacks and feels great. You proceed along with what your medical people and the various doctors are saying.”

At the time of his injury, UConn projected that Clingan would return to action in a month. Hurley said it’s hard to say if Clingan will play in the season opener.

“For him, it’s about, does he get enough time of live basketball and can you then build his minutes incrementally in some of these games? With the position that he plays and role that he played last year, maybe a situation like Andre Jackson last year where we brought him back (from an injury) incrementally in terms of minutes and then eventually he got back to starting.”

Junior Samson Johnson played well in

REGULAR SEASON

No. 6 UConn rolls past Northern Arizona in season-opening win

BY GAVIN KEEFE, THE DAY · PUBLISHED

NOV. 6, 2023

STORRS, Conn. — UConn’s returning players from the 2023 national championship team gathered near mid-court during an emotional pregame title banner ceremony on Monday.

They soaked in the applause from a Gampel Pavilion record crowd of 10,299 on the season opening night and watched video messages from former teammates Jordan Hawkins, Andre Jackson, Adama Sanogo and Joey Calcaterra.

Their thoughts turned from the past to this season and the future.

“It was definitely cool to see and finally put a cap on last year’s success,” sophomore Donovan Clingan said. “It was a great feeling. We were just in the middle of the court with our arms around each other, just talking about trying to go win another one.

“The (women’s) side has 11 of them. We’ve got five, so we’ve just got to keep adding more. We’ve got to keep working.”

Ranked sixth in the Associated Press preseason poll, the Huskies are off to a

terrific start.

They gave their fans plenty to be excited about in a convincing 95-52 win over Northern Arizona.

They never trailed against their overmatched Big Sky Conference opponent, leading by double digits for the final 33 and a half minutes of the non-conference game.

“Happy to get that first one under our belts,” coach Dan Hurley said.

As expected, UConn’s new big three of Alex Karaban (a career-high 22 points, seven rebounds), Tristen Newton (14 points, seven rebounds) and Clingan (12 points, eight rebounds, three blocks) led the way. Clingan, who returned to practice last week after missing a month due to a foot injury, moved well and looked healthy in his 15 minutes of action.

“We need big jumps from our returners to be a program that’s going for the big things this year,” Hurley said.

It was a night of firsts for several Huskies — first games in a UConn uniform for a highlyregarded freshmen class and graduate transfer

Cam Spencer, first career start for newcomer Stephon Castle and Clingan, first time scoring in more than double figures for junior Samson Johnson.

Johnson’s athleticism was eye-opening. Most of the 6-foot-10 junior forward’s career-high 11 points came from dunks, including one off an impressive move after grabbing an offensive rebound. He equaled his point total from last season when he missed all but 12 games with a foot injury.

Hurley was most impressed with Spencer, who took an unselfish approach and elevated the play of his teammates. He fired up just three shots and finished with a team-best five assists to go with eight points.

“To me, that was like the story of the night,” Hurley said. “This team has tremendous depth in terms of the amount of people that can beat you offensively. A willingness for players on this team to allow others to eat, others to have big nights when the match-ups dictate that, I think is going to go along with the team. He set a great tone for our season with the way

OPPOSITE: UConn Huskies guard Tristen Newton, right, reacts to the crowd as the Huskies are honored as the 2023 National Champions before the start of the game against the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion, Nov. 6, 2023. DAVID BUTLER II / USA TODAY SPORTS

ABOVE: UConn Huskies forward Alex Karaban (11) drives the ball against Northern Arizona Lumberjacks forward Diego Campisano (12) in the first half at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion.

DAVID BUTLER II / USA TODAY SPORTS

OPPOSITE: UConn Huskies center Donovan Clingan (32) and teammates react after a play against the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks in the first half, Nov. 6, 2023. DAVID BUTLER II / USA TODAY SPORTS

he approached things tonight.”

The Huskies put on a show after the pregame show, playing for the first time since April 3 when they knocked off San Diego State, 76-59, in the national title game in Houston.

With a starting five of Newton, Spencer, Karaban, Clingan and Castle, the Huskies surged in front and built a 47-30 lead by halftime.

Right off, UConn fed the ball inside into the 7-foot-2 Clingan, who had nine of his team’s first 21 points on the way to an 11-point lead.

said. “He had a great summer. He came off the bench and had a lot of lob dunks, was a threat in the paint and blocked a lot of shots and rebounded very well. He’s going to be a very important factor this year.”

UConn’s defense improved as the game went on. The Huskies had an overwhelming edge in talent, muscle and length all over the court. Northern Arizona shot just 34 percent overall.

The high-powered Huskies converted 56 percent from the field.

“I thought we played very well,” Karaban said. “Offensively, we looked really good out there. We have to continue to get better on the defensive end and just continue to rebound at a higher level and just continue to tighten up. “

And, of course, there were plenty of freshmen moments. Castle got in early foul trouble and finished with 12 points. At times, he dazzled the crowd with his talent.

Overall, the season opener was a beneficial learning experience for the first-year players. Jaylin Stewart (five) and Solo Ball (two) also scored their first career points while Jayden Ross played nine minutes and Youssouf Singare saw some action at the end of the game.

Due to a minutes restriction, he played roughly five minutes in the second half.

“The 15 minutes that he played was a good start for him,” Hurley said. “He was obviously a little rusty. He did that tonight on just a handful of live practices. So I thought he was impressive, all things considered.”

The Huskies didn’t miss a beat with Johnson, who had five rebounds and three blocks, filling in for Clingan on the frontcourt.

“Samson has been doing everything he can to get better and better every day,” Clingan

“Second half, those guys settled in better,” Hurley said.

With the banner unveiling behind them, the Huskies can start to settle into the season and chase championships again.

“Every time we look up at those banners, that’s always going to be something that you’re proud of,” Hurley said. “It’s something that you’re never going to forget about. But we’ve been working so hard since June to get this team ready to play. No one is really thinking about that.

“But it was cool.”

UConn clinches its first outright Big East regular season title in 25 years

BY GAVIN KEEFE, THE DAY · PUBLISHED MARCH 3, 2024

STORRS, Conn. — Time to throw away the tattered poster-sized photo of the Big East regular season trophy that UConn has carried around since preseason.

The Huskies have the real thing now.

They left no doubt about the best team in the Big East on Sunday, thumping Seton Hall, 91-61, before a rowdy sold-out crowd at Gampel Pavilion. They’re the outright league champions for the first time since 1999.

After the statement-making victory, No. 3 UConn (26-3, 16-2) received the Big East trophy and celebrated by cutting down the nets.

“Thrilled with the way we played…,” coach Dan Hurley said. “Not getting either the Big East regular season or Big East tournament championship last year, as great as a national championship was, this was a thorn in our side, especially the regular season.

“Next to getting to a Final Four or winning

a national championship, winning the regular season of a conference like this is the hardest thing to do, harder than the Big East tournament because you’ve got to earn it in a true round robin (format) in some incredibly tough places to play and the most physical games in college basketball against the best coaches in the country.”

It was a day of celebrations, as UConn honored Hassan Diarra, Tristen Newton, Cam Spencer and Andrew Hurley during an emotional pregame Senior Day ceremony. The Huskies finished the season unbeaten at home for the first time in 18 years.

Yet, the Big East title clinching celebration was on the subdued side. The Huskies have bigger goals in their sights.

“I’m proud of the guys and we’ve worked really hard for this…,” sophomore Donovan Clingan said. “But this is just the first of many.

We’re not going to celebrate this too long because we’ve got bigger goals and bigger things to accomplish. This is something we can really soak in.”

UConn’s demolition crew went right to work on Sunday, punching in and quickly punching out Seton Hall, which won the first meeting by 15 on Dec. 20 in Newark, N.J. The Huskies seized a 15-point halftime advantage and put on a show in the second half while building a huge lead.

The game highlighted all of UConn’s strengths as a team and showed why the Huskies are considered a national championship contender.

They rode a balanced attack to victory, with Clingan leading the charge with his third double-double in the last seven games. He finished with 19 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high tying five blocks.

OPPOSITE: The UConn Huskies celebrate after clinching the Big East regular season outright title with a win against Seton Hall at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion, March 3, 2024.

DAVID BUTLER II / USA TODAY SPORTS

UConn shot 55.9% percent from the field, controlled the boards by a 38-26 edge and shut down the Pirates (18-11, 11-7), who converted 37.7%.

“There’s not a lot of holes,” Hurley said.

“We’ve had a couple of outlier performances — the Creighton game, a total breakdown of who we are. But when we stick to our script and stick to our formula and we’re about our identity, there’s not a lot of holes in our attack.”

Newton played his usual strong all-around floor game in his final appearance before the

and finished 7 for 17 with 15 points.

He was just as impressive with the ball in his hands, shooting an efficient nine for 12 from the field while scoring in a variety of ways.

“Just his size, what he was able to do in the paint offensively, his efficiency and his defense, that was tremendous,” Hurley said.

In a spectacular play, Castle shook two defenders by first dribbling behind his back and then going with a cross-over dribble before sailing down the lane for a dunk that sent the home crowd into a frenzy and pushed the lead to 23 midway through the second half.

“I’m just out there having fun,” Castle said.

The Huskies certainly had fun.

It was all UConn after a 9-0 run put the Huskies in front for good, 23-18.

And they pushed their lead to 22 early in the second half despite Spencer going scoreless until the final 13:30.

In the final few minutes, Hurley pulled his starters and inserted his bench players, including his son Andrew, a walk-on. The crowd roared when Hurley made a free throw with 39 seconds left.

home fans, chipping in 17 points, 10 assists and four rebounds. Redshirt sophomore Alex Karaban snapped out of his shooting funk to score 13 points.

But freshman Stephon Castle attracted the biggest spotlight while contributing a gamehigh 21 points. It was easy to see why Castle is projected to be an NBA Draft lottery pick, if he decides to leave after this season.

Castle helped contain Kadary Richmond, Seton Hall’s best player. Richmond started out the game just one for eight from the field

All in all, it was an emotional day for the Huskies, from the Senior Day ceremony to the postgame, net-cutting celebration. They earned the program’s 11th regular season title overall and first Big East championship of any kind since 2011 when they won the league tournament.

“It was a cool experience, having my parents here and winning the conference,” Newton said, “but we celebrated in the locker room and (Monday) we will be back at work trying to finish out the conference well in the last two games. We still want the (Big East) tournament championship and the national

ABOVE: UConn Huskies guard Stephon Castle dunks against the Seton Hall Pirates in the first half at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion, March 3, 2024.

DAVID BUTLER II / USA TODAY SPORTS

championship, too.”

UConn will finish the regular season by visiting Marquette Wednesday and traveling to Providence on Saturday.

Then the Huskies will be the No. 1 seed in next week’s Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Dating back to early February 2023, they’ve won 38 of the last 42 games.

“We’ve got a lot of confidence,” Hurley said. “I think last year winning it has given us a freedom to go out and coach and play. We don’t have heavy shoulders. We’re attacking games as opposed to carrying a lot of March pressure.”

LEFT: UConn head coach Dan Hurley cuts down the net after the Huskies clinched the Big East regular season championship on March 3, 2024. DAVID BUTLER II / USA TODAY SPORTS

UConn men heading back to NCAA championship game

BY GAVIN KEEFE, THE DAY · PUBLISHED APRIL 6, 2024

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Considering the significance of its accomplishment, UConn had a subdued reaction to a national championship semifinal victory on Saturday.

After a hard-fought 86-72 win over No. 4 Alabama, the top-seeded Huskies shifted their focus to the next and final roadblock in their quest to become the first college basketball team in 17 years to repeat as national champions.

They’ll play No. 1 Purdue (34-4) in the program’s sixth national title game appearance at 9:20 p.m. on Monday at State Farm Stadium.

“We expected to be in this position,” redshirt sophomore Alex Karaban said. “We’re not celebrating. We came here for two wins. We didn’t come here just to win a Final Four game against Alabama. We want to win the whole thing.

“The returners know how special that feeling is to go out and compete for a national championship. … We’re not satisfied at all.”

Playing before 74,720 fans, UConn (36-3) survived its toughest tournament to advance after winning the previous four games by an average of 27.8 points.

The Huskies were locked in a 56-all tie with

under 13 minutes remaining before gradually breaking free from the Crimson Tide (25-12), who cooled off from 3-point range, finishing 11 for 23 after making eight of their first 11 from beyond the arc.

Down the stretch, they sharpened their offensive execution and turned up the defensive pressure, closing the game with a 30-16 run.

They extended their NCAA record of double digit tournament wins to 11 straight dating back to last season.

“We were able to wear them down playing a full 40 minutes,” said senior Hassan Diarra, who had a cut on his nose from catching an inadvertent elbow. “They’re a tough team. They stuck with us until the last media timeout.

That’s where we separate ourselves.”

Like it has done all season, UConn passed around the scoring baton.

Playing in his first Final Four, freshman Stephan Castle took the baton first, scoring 13 of his career-high tying 21 points in the first half. He helped stabilize his team until his teammates found their rhythm.

“I had it going,” Castle said. “My teammates put me in great positions to be successful. I saw a couple of shots fall early. I just had it going.”

Sophomore Donovan Clingan finished with 18 points, five rebounds and four blocks despite playing with a bruised right wrist. Cam Spencer (14 points), Karaban (14) and Tristen Newton (12 points, nine assists) also scored in double figures.

“This team is all about playing for one another…,” Clingan said. “Everyone is so unselfish and everyone wants to see everyone else succeed. It’s a special team to be a part of. I love this team.”

UConn knew right away it was in for a competitive fight.

Alabama, the nation’s top scoring offense that heavily relies on the 3-point shot, came out firing away.

When Rylan Griffen buried a 3-pointer, UConn faced its largest deficit of the tournament at 23-18. The Huskies previously trailed for a total of 28 seconds.

The Huskies kept going on mini-runs and the Crimson Tide kept answering.

Holding a slim 44-40 at halftime, the Huskies tried to pull away again, building their biggest lead thus far — eight — on Castle’s dunk.

Back came Alabama, tying the score at 56 on Grant Nelson’s hook shot in the lane with

OPPOSITE: UConn Huskies guard Stephon Castle (5) dribbles the ball against Alabama Crimson Tide guard Mark Sears (1) during the first half in the semifinals of the men’s Final Four of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., April 6, 2024. BOB DONNAN / USA TODAY SPORTS

Hurley becomes first UConn men’s coach to earn Naismith honor

BY GAVIN KEEFE, THE DAY · PUBLISHED APRIL 7, 2024

PHOENIX — Dan Hurley put together his acceptance speech shortly after arriving at the Naismith Awards ceremony Sunday morning.

He’s been busy preparing his UConn basketball team for Monday’s national championship game against fellow No. 1 seed Purdue at State Farm Stadium.

After receiving his Naismith men’s college coach of the year trophy, Hurley addressed the big crowd at the Phoenix Art Museum, the location of the event. Tubby Smith, Roy Williams and Bobby Cremins, three past award winners, stood behind him on the stage.

“I was nervous enough coming in here, now you brought these three guys in here, and now I’m really nervous,” Hurley said. “I asked my wife, ‘Should I be myself or should I just stick to the remarks?’ It’s going to be a combination.”

Hurley was definitely his authentic self, wise-cracking his way through his speech while talking about everything from his journey from a high school coach to running a national championship program at UConn, to his family and, of course, his lucky underwear.

“Fifteen years ago, I was a high school coach,” Hurley said. “I could have never imagined that my coaching life would go this path. It’s an incredible honor to be part of the history of this award now. It’s an honor to be nominated with the three other coaches that are as good as there are in our profession.”

South Carolina’s Lamont Paris, Houston’s Kelvin Sampson and Iowa State’s T.J. Otzelberger were the other finalists.

Hurley is the first UConn men’s coach to earn the Naismith honor.

Under Hurley’s guidance, UConn is enjoying a record setting season, recording the

program’s most regular season wins (36) and the most Big East wins (18) in league history. They won both the Big East regular title and tournament championships.

The Huskies are in the national title game for the second straight year for the first time in program history. They’re one win away from becoming the first team in 17 years to capture back-to-back titles.

Hurley’s family — wife Andrea, sons Danny and Andrew — play an important supporting role in his success as well as his basketball family.

“Without that incredible foundation, you wouldn’t be able to do it,” said Hurley, who earned his first Big East coach of the year honor this season.

He also made a point to thank his father Bob Sr., a Hall of Fame inductee who also was in the crowd.

“Basketball is the family business,” Hurley said. “Basketball is all I’ve ever known. I grew up around the game. If I wasn’t playing it, I was thinking about it, or I was coaching it, or always just around it.

“It’s been the central figure in my life. You have a Hall of Fame father that taught you the ins and outs of it, every aspect of coaching. And it’s your passion. I was raised to do this.”

After Hurley finished his speech, he posed with his family for pictures, briefly met with the media before boarding the team bus and heading to State Farm Stadium in Glendale.

“I get my tablet back out and put Purdue back on,” Hurley said. “I’ll enjoy it for another 200 feet. Once the season ends, you appreciate everything that the program has achieved. This is truly an organization award. I’ve got the best staff and the best players, and that’s how you win something like this.”

OPPOSITE: UConn Huskies head coach Dan Hurley speaks at a press conference during practice before the 2024 Final Four of the NCAA Tournament at State Farm Stadium on April 5, 2024. MICHAEL CHOW / USA TODAY SPORTS

second half of the national championship game of the Final Four of the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

ABOVE: UConn Huskies after winning the national championship game of the Final Four of the 2024 NCAA Tournament against the Purdue Boilermakers at State Farm Stadium. BOB DONNAN / USA TODAY SPORTS

OPPOSITE: UConn Huskies guard Cam Spencer (12) leaps for the ball against Purdue Boilermakers guard Braden Smith (3) during the

BOB DONNAN / USA TODAY SPORTS