UConn coach Dan Hurley climbed the ladder with “New York, New York” playing in Madison Square Garden — or as he calls it, “Storrs South.”

The New Jersey native clipped the last piece of net off the rim, let out a “Wooooo!” as he whirled it over his head and then tapped the Big East sign on the backboard before making his way back down.

Hurley and his defending national champions have eyes on even bigger prizes this March, but make no mistake, winning the Big East Tournament was a big deal for the Huskies.

Donovan Clingan had 22 points and a careerbest 16 rebounds, Jaylin Stewart gave No. 2 UConn an unexpected boost with three secondhalf 3pointers during a decisive surge and the Huskies beat No. 10 Marquette 7357 on Saturday night to win the tournament for the first time since rejoining the conference four years ago.

“MSG, Big East Tournament, there's nothing like it,” Hurley said. “There's just no comparison anywhere to what this place is like.”

Tournament MVP Tristen Newton added 13 points and 10 assists as the topseeded Huskies won their eighth title, matching Georgetown for the most in conference history. It was their first since 2011, when Kemba Walker led UConn to five wins in five days at The Garden — and then a national title.

Stewart, a freshman who was averaging 2.4 points off the bench, scored nine in about four minutes as UConn (313) pulled away from a gritty Marquette team playing without injured star Tyler Kolek (oblique) for a sixth straight game.

Kam Jones led the thirdseeded Golden Eagles (259), the defending tournament champions, with 13 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

On a night when the Huskies struggled from the perimeter, they relied on the 7foot2 Clingan inside. The Connecticut native was 7 for 12 from the field and, as the final seconds ticked off the clock, the sophomore big man waved on hypedup Huskies fans who packed the Midtown Manhattan arena.

“It means everything," Clingan said. "This was one of our goals at the beginning of the season, so to complete it means a lot.”

Two years after UConn's last Big East Tournament title the league broke up and the Huskies went with the football schools to form the American Athletic Conference, where they won another national championship in 2014 — and then fell off.

UConn returned to the Big East in 202021 and to national prominence. The Huskies won their fifth NCAA title last year, but the conference tournament championship had eluded Hurley's team. UConn hadn't even reached the final in its first three seasons back in the Big East.

Hurley rattled off all his team has accomplished in the last year as he accepted the trophy Saturday night and told the crowd: “But we ain't done yet.”

UConn improved to 83 in Big East finals, and 70 at MSG this season.

As usual, UConn fans packed The Garden and for the second straight night Marquette faced a roadgame environment. The Golden Eagles overcame a raucous Providence crowd in a rugged semifinal Friday night.

“Today was rough for sure," said David Joplin, who had 12 points and six rebounds in the Golden Eagles' lowestscoring game of the season by 12 points. “We’ve got a great team, and we’ve got a great chance to play well in the (NCAA) Tournament, and that’s all you need is a chance.”

Two of the country's best teams played one of the ugliest nine minutes of basketball imaginable to start the game.

At the second media timeout, the score was tied at 4 and the Golden Eagles and Huskies were a combined 3 for 22 from the floor. The defense was aggressive and physical, but it was also hard to keep track of just how many pointblank shots rolled off the rim.

Things picked up from there, and Newton swished a 3pointer with three seconds left in the first half to give UConn a 2624 lead at the break.

The shots started falling in the second half for both teams and UConn began asserting itself with about 10 minutes left, led by Stewart.

The Huskies went on a 195 run and led 6044 with 5:54 remaining when Hassan Diarra made a corner 3.

“I thought we ran out of steam there probably in the last 10 minutes,” Marquette coach Shaka Smart said. “Donovan Clingan was the biggest difference.”

Stewart keyed UConn's surge with his longrange shooting. He came into the game just 6 for 30 from 3point range on the season.

“Biggest shots of my life,” Stewart said. “It was electric in there.”