Top-ranked UConn welcomed back star center Donovan Clingan from injury Wednesday and used a stifling defense to beat No. 18 Creighton 62-48.
Tristen Newton scored 16 points for the Huskies (16-2, 6-1 Big East), who were playing their first game ranked No. 1 since 2009. Cam Spencer and Alex Karaban each had 13 points, with all of Karaban's scoring coming in the second half.
Clingan, a 7-foot-2 sophomore, came off the bench to score six points and grab five rebounds in 16 minutes.
Steven Ashworth led Creighton (13-5, 4-3) with 14 points. Baylor Scheierman, who came into the game averaging 18 points a game, added 12.
UConn dominated down low, outscoring Creighton 36-20 in the paint and outrebounding it 48-32.
"We were just tough, man," UConn coach Dan Hurley said. "We were Big East tough."
The Huskies led by 11 points at the half and used a 9-0 run to go up 41-23 early in second half.
An alley-oop dunk from Stephon Castle to Clingan gave the Huskies their first 20-point lead at 48-28.
The Bluejays used an 18-8 run to cut the lead to 10 points on a 3-pointer by Scheierman with 2½ minutes left.
Clingan, who missed the past five games with a tendon injury in his right foot, checked into the game with 11:42 left in the first half and the score tied at 12.
The Huskies scored the next seven points, part of a 14-2 run that gave them a 23-14 lead.
Clingan got his first block with just under five minutes left in the half and his first basket on a putback with just over four minutes left. The Huskies outscored the Bluejays 15-4 when he was in the game in the first half.
"It felt good just to go out there and battle with the guys in front of the home crowd," Clingan said. "Just to get that win, it was a big win for us and it felt great."
The Associated Press contributed to this story.