Notes & Quotes: Clingan's return lifts No. 1 UConn over No. 18 Creighton

STORRS, Conn. - With 11:42 left in the first half of Wednesday night’s marquee matchup against Creighton, a long-awaited moment arrived: Donovan Clingan checked into the game.

He’s one of the most dominant defensive players in college basketball but hadn’t played since suffering a right foot injury early in the second half of the Dec. 20 game at Seton Hall.

Four weeks (and five UConn wins) later, he was out for warm-ups and got the green light to take on Ryan Kalkbrenner and the Bluejays.

UConn’s big man was back but on a time limit, something he dealt with earlier this season as well. He played 15:31 off the bench, with 10 of those coming in the second half. His impact was immediate, even in five minutes of action in the first half.

The score was 12-12 when Clingan checked in. Just 2:36 later, he checked out and UConn was up by nine.

“Defensively his ability to protect the rim is elite,” Creighton head coach Greg McDermott said. “It’s not just the ones he blocks, it’s the ones you don’t take because he’s there.”