UConn continues historic run of dominance after rout of San Diego State

Some basketball teams have a big home-court advantage. The UConn Huskies are unstoppable at a neutral site.

The University of Connecticut has won nine straight NCAA Tournament games, all by double digits, dating back to last year’s run to the title. It’s the 16th straight game they’ve won at a neutral site, all of those by double digits as well.

Thursday night was more of the same. In a rematch of last season’s title game, UConn defeated San Diego State, 82-52. That’s even more dominant than the 76-59 defeat last year, which gave UConn their sixth national title.

But even when they had future NBA lottery picks like Kemba Walker, Richard Hamilton and Emeka Okafor, UConn has never dominated to this degree.

Thursday’s win tied Michigan State for most consecutive double-digit tourney wins, achieved from 2000-01. The Spartans won it all in 2000, then won their regional final in 2001 by only seven points over Temple. They eventually lost in the Final Four.

How are they doing it? Defense, rebounding and highly-efficient shooting. San Diego State is the sixth straight March Madness opponent they’ve held under 60 points, and UConn out-rebounded them by 20.

Against Northwestern, the Huskies shot just 3-for-22 from three-point range — but a stunning 26-for-32 on two-pointers.

The Huskies aren’t just winning. They’re trouncing their rivals. Earlier this season, they ran their streak of double-digits wins against non-conference opponents to 24 games.

It’s the most dominant tournament team we’ve seen since Florida won back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007, but they occasionally played close games. UConn hasn’t been challenged, much less beaten.

Illinois or Iowa State will get a chance Saturday. Let’s see if they can stay within 10 points.