Led by Castle and Clingan, defending champ UConn returns to NCAA title game, beating Alabama 86-72

By JOHN MARSHALL
AP Basketball Writer

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — UConn kept its bid to repeat as national champion intact by surviving its first true test of the NCAA Tournament. The Huskies got 21 points from freshman Stephon Castle while clamping down defensively in the second half of an 86-72 win over Alabama in the Final Four. Top-seeded UConn had put on a March Madness show before arriving in the desert, a stretch that included a 30-0 run in a decimation of Illinois in the Elite Eight. This was more of a slow burn, with UConn withstanding an early wave of 3-pointers before holding the Crimson Tide without a field goal during a five-minute second-half stretch.