The No. 1 overall seed UConn men imposed their will and took complete control over 9-seed Northwestern not five minutes into Sunday’s Round of 32 game in Brooklyn.

The Huskies took a commanding lead over the shorthanded fourth-place finishers in the Big Ten, holding the Wildcats to just 25.8% from the field and 0-for-8 from 3 in the first half. Smiling throughout, the Huskies’ lead grew to as many as 30 points in the second and, despite shooting a lowly 3-for-22 (13.6%) from 3-point range and NU cutting the difference to 16 late, UConn’s streak of double-digit NCAA Tournament wins was never threatened. The Huskies won, 75-58.

“We always have a good time winning,” said All-American point guard Tristen Newton, who laughed as he let the ball roll on an inbound so the Huskies could take the final shot of the first half. “We feel like we demoralized them early.”

In the locker room after the game, coach Dan Hurley addressed the team and its large traveling party: “Just keep blowing these teams out in this tournament too, right?”

UConn has not trailed in either of its two tournament games thus far, beating up on 16-seed Stetson before Sunday’s rout.

“You make yourself bulletproof. You can see the preparation, (Friday) was Kimani Young with the scout, (Sunday) it was Luke Murray. These are head coach quality, some of the best coaches in the country,” Hurley told media after the win. “We are bulletproof. Again, elite offense, elite defense. Didn’t love the offensive rebounding and didn’t love the second half defensive rebounding, but 20 assists, seven turnovers… It’s tough to lose when you have that level of quality.”

That word – “bulletproof” – is one most coaches would shy away from. Especially in a tournament known for its madness, where any team can be upset on any given night.

Dan Hurley is not most coaches. And UConn, after its NCAA-record eighth consecutive NCAA Tournament victory by double figures, suffering nary a scratch along the way, is not like most teams. The Huskies have won 29 of their 30 games against nonconference opponents over the last two seasons, all by double digits.

But… Bulletproof?

It wasn’t a slip of the tongue – Hurley said it twice in each of his four trips to the dais, eight total times through four press conferences in Brooklyn. And he believed it every time.

“To be bulletproof is if you don’t have to rely on one player or two players to carry you offensively, we’ve got balance there,” Hurley said before again listing all of the areas in which his team has been elite. “If you’re consistent with doing all of those things you just don’t give your opponents a lot of places to go. And then if you have a shooting night like we did today, you could still be successful.”

Retooling the roster after losing five of its top eight rotation players from last year’s national championship team, UConn has five players averaging in double figures in one of, if not the most complex and unselfish offenses in the country. The Huskies have the fifth-best field goal percentage (49.8%), the highest assist/turnover ratio (1.91) and the second-best scoring margin of all 351 Division I programs.

Defensively, Big East Freshman of the Year Stephon Castle showed again Sunday how he’s able to use his size and physicality to swallow an opponent’s best player, and when he needs a rest, Hassan Diarra continues the task as a pest with his quick and active hands. Inside, Donovan Clingan – who set a new program-record for blocks in an NCAA Tournament game with eight on Sunday – is as menacing as they come.

“We’re having a blast, man. I enjoy being around these guys each and every day. We love each other, we love to see each other succeed and we’re doing an amazing job of having fun out there,” Diarra said.

“Just to be able to play with guys like this on the best team in the country on a stage like this, I feel like that’s what any freshman in the country would ask for,” Castle added. “It’s been super fun.”

No program has won back-to-back NCAA Tournament championships since Florida in 2006 and 2007. With a win in Boston on Thursday, in a rematch of last year’s title game against San Diego State, UConn would become the first reigning champion since those Gators teams to make it past the Sweet 16.

“We’ve been confident the whole year. I think last season changed how heavy we feel going into these games. Obviously you’re nervous and you know the history of NCAA champions not being able to get out of the first weekend,” Hurley said.

“But we’re different.”

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