HOUSTON — By last March, Adama Sanogo was out of gas.
This March, he has energy to burn.
The difference: a backup center pretty much as good as any within the country.
Take a bow, Donovan Clingan — the 7-foot-2 freshman big man who has helped make it a memorable month for the standout UConn junior.
“Adama Sanogo has been top-of-the-line players within the NCAA Tournament largely because we’ve been in a position to keep him fresh this 12 months,” coach Dan Hurley said on Thursday because the Huskies prepared for Saturday’s Final 4. “Last 12 months this time of 12 months he was playing 34, 35 minutes a game as a giant guy. This 12 months Donovan Clingan having the ability to keep him fresh has been a giant reason he’s been in a position to dominate and that we’re still playing.”
Sanogo, a 6-foot-9, 245-pound bruiser from Mali, has been a force for the fourth-seeded Huskies in 4 tournament games — averaging 20 points, 9.7 rebounds and shooting 65.4 percent from the sector.
Clingan, a highly regarded top-50 prospect from Bristol, Conn., has shined in March, emulating his consistent regular season in giving UConn an inside duo few teams can cope with.
They’ve helped each other.
Each credited the opposite for his or her improvement.
Sanogo’s experience prepared Clingan for the Big East season, and Sanogo cited Clingan as essential in his day by day motivation.
His presence didn’t let Sanogo coast.
“Every practice he brings it to you,” Sanogo said. “He desires to fight. He wants your spot. … The thing is he helped me loads.”
They’ve different strengths.
Sanogo is at best on the low block, using his strength to attain within the lane.
Clingan is a force in pick-and-rolls as a lob threat, athletic and agile for a person his size.
Each are instrumental to the Huskies’ suffocating defense, combining to average 2.6 blocks per game — 1.8 by Clingan, an elite rim protector.
Hurley alternates the 2 — depending on matchups, the flow of the sport and who’s playing well.
“I feel what makes it work so well is I attempted to review numerous [Purdue coach] Matt Painter, top-of-the-line coaches within the country when he had [Trevion] Williams and he had the two-center attack [with Zach Edey],” Hurley said. “We actually this summer tried to go to highschool on what … he was doing. And that was really helpful.”
