Seton Hall stuns No. 5 UConn 75-60 in Big East opener

College Basketball

Updated Dec. 20, 2023 10:14 p.m. ET

Kadary Richmond had 23 points and eight steals, Dre Davis added 17 points and Seton Hall used suffocating defense to stun No. 5 UConn 75-60 on Wednesday night for its biggest victory in three years.

The win in the Big East Conference opener for both teams was the third straight for Seton Hall (8-4) and snapped a three-game winning streak for the Huskies (10-2). UConn previous loss was a 69-65 setback at No. 2 Kansas.

The last time Seton Hall beat the No. 5 team was in January 2020 when it knocked off Butler. The Pirates beat Villanova twice when the Wildcats were ranked third.

The Huskies played the final 16:33 without starting center Donovan Clingan, who left after an apparent injury to his lower right leg. The sophomore had 14 points and seven rebounds. He went to the locker room and returned to the bench but did not play again.

Pirates big man Jaden Bediako added 10 points, nine rebounds and three blocks, while clogging up the middle and making Clingan work for every point. Al-Amir Dawes added 11 points.

Tristen Newton had 16 points for UConn, which committed a season-high 17 turnovers and were held to a season-low point total .

Seton Hall, which shot 59% in beating Missouri on Sunday, shot 29 of 56 from the field, or 52%.

Trailing 20-10 with 8:47 left in the first half, Seton Hall closed out the period with a 24-9 spurt that featured eight points by Davis and seven straight at one point by Richmond. With the score tied at 27, Dawes scored four points and Davis three to gives the Pirates a 34-29 halftime lead.

UConn never threatened in the second half and Seton Hall held a double-digit lead the final 7:32.

BIG PICTURE

UConn: The Huskies beat Gonzaga on Friday and they still looked like they were on West Coast time much of the game. Clingan’s status has to be a concern.

Seton Hall: Coming off its best game of the year with a win over Missouri, the Pirates topped that with great effort against the team that led the Big East in both scoring and scoring defense.

UP NEXT

UConn: Hosts St. John’s on Saturday.

Seton Hall: At Xavier on Saturday.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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